


Electric Love | A Superboy Fanfic

by Kiwi_Kori



Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Reign of the Supermen (2019), Superman - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Animated Series), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24958339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiwi_Kori/pseuds/Kiwi_Kori
Summary: Before Ella can even blink, the Eradicator suddenly has Superboy in a chokehold. Letting her hands fly up in front of her, Ella yells out, “Let go of him!”As if he was listening to her command, the Eradicator thrusts his arm back, before chucking Superboy forward, sending the young clone harshly to the ground.Ella felt her heart stop as she realized she wasn’t going to reach Superboy fast enough. The Eradicator was already right above him, getting ready to attempt to crush the young teen.Ella watched helplessly as Superboy tried to block himself. She felt a scream erupt through her throat at the same time Superboy’s cry of pain shot out.
Relationships: Clark Kent & Lois Lane, Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Damian Wayne & Original Female Character, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Koriand'r, Garfield Logan/Raven, Garfield Logan/Tara Markov, Jaime Reyes/Traci Thurston, Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne, Kid Flash & Robin, Oc/Superboy (DCU), Raven/Damian Wayne, Superboy/Original Character, Talia al Ghul/Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21
Collections: Oc Centric Fics, Teen Titans





	1. In a World Without Superman

* * *

_"Candy, She's sweet like candy in my veins"-Electric Love, Borns_

* * *

_"It's been six months since Doomsday, and the world is still shaken by the death of Kal-El of Krypton. Better known to us as Superman. My guest is commentator G. Gordan Godfrey. Sir, you've written an editorial in which you call on us to reject so-called 'Supers,' and effectively become our own heroes."_

_"We have an infestation, Cat. It's out of control."_

_"You're writing about the mysterious new Supermen."_

Clicking off the TV with a sigh, Ella lets her gaze wander to her closet, the makeshift home to her costume. Sometimes she wishes she could just be Gemini for forever and forget about Elianna Renne Gates. Be able to just fly away from her problems or punch them in the face; whatever works.

Yet, every time she looks at the green-clad costume her heart constricts a little, _"Gemini is the reason my parents shipped me off to Titans Tower, they were scared of what I was capable of,"_ rings through her head every time she slips the spandex outfit on.

The young brunette girl can't help the tears that shine in her eyes when she thinks about her little home back in Happy Harbor. She still loves her family, even if the feeling isn't mutual. Things have been hard at home ever since Clark died, he was her Father's best friend and he wasn't taking the loss too well,

_"He's not the same anymore, Ellie,"_ Ella's mind drifts back to the phone call she had with her younger sister just yesterday, _"He hasn't put on the costume in weeks, and he's been blowing up at Mom a lot more too."_

Hurting her was one thing, but like hell, she was going to let her Father harm her Mother and Sister too. 

Scrubbing her hands down her face, Ella migrates to her bed. It's not like she can just go home and deliver this oh-so inspirational speech, if her father wasn't going to listen to a voice of reason then there was no point in making the painful trip home. 

With a soft, almost silent ' _ping'_ Ella feels her phone vibrate in her jacket pocket. Fishing the Wayne-Tech device out, Ella almost shuts it off immediately. But, the notification strikes interest in her.

It was the news app she had installed on her phone what felt like years ago, alerting her to a new paper Lois Lane had recently published, ' _Lex Corp's New Superman? Public Announcement Tonight_ _by the CEO Himself.'_

Smiling to herself, Ella sits up and shoots off towards her bathroom, costume already tucked in the crook of her elbow, ' _If a speech won't snap my Dad out of it, maybe a reality check will,'_ and with that, Ella makes her way up to the tower roof as fast as possible.

Spreading her arms out to each side, as though preparing for a trust fall, Ella lets a small giggle escape her lips as she lets herself fall back into the star freckled sky.

The true Superman might be gone, but that doesn't seem to stop others from trying to live up to the man's legacy.

* * *

Touching down on the hard sleek pavement of the sidewalk, Ella dips into the first alley she sees. It's not like she can attend the charity event as Gemini-no, this was a task for Ella Gates.

Shoving her arms through the openings on the dress, Ella frees her hair of it's confined position; going from trapped in a ponytail to flowing freely down.

She thinks she looks nice-she _has_ to look nice. Her brunette hair is cascading down her back, each strand holding a soft loose curl. She had forced herself into a tight-fitting yellow dress, something that would compliment her green irises nicely. And she's got on white sandals, this thing was orchestrated by Lex Luthor it would be idiotic to wear heels.

Cracking her knuckles, a nervous habit she has been trying to get rid of for years, Ella steps out of the alleyway and makes her way into the building. 

Taking her firsts steps in, Ella immediately spots a familiar head of raven hair. Quickening her pace towards the woman, Ella realized her guess was right-it was Lois Lane.

Not caring in the slightest about where she was, Ella takes one leap forward and crashed herself against the older woman. Letting out an initial yelp of surprise, Ella feels two skinny arms circle around her back and the surprised voice of Lois, "Ella?"

Stepping back to meet her green eyes with blue, Ella blushes in embarrassment realizing what she just did. Rubbing the back of her neck with her hand, Ella shifts her gaze to the floor next to Lois, suddenly too embarrassed to maintain eye contact, "Sorry for the sneak attack, just nice to see a familiar face."

Cocking her hips to the side, Lois rests her hands on her hips as she suspiciously eyes the younger girl in front of her, "So, what are you doing all the way in Metropolis kid?"

Eyes widening in a futile attempt to make up an excuse, Ella says, "Just decided to.....fly on down for the night."

"Kind of a long flight from Jump City doncha think?" Lois retorted, smug smile tugging at her lips as she messes with the brunette.

Letting out a 'humph' of defeat, Ella has a response on the tip of her tongue, but before she can get it out a call cuts through their conversation, "Lois Lane?"

Turning to face the approaching man, Ella takes a small step back. She knows Lois is pretty well known for her newspaper entries; she had no intention of budding into this conversation,

"John Henry Irons. You interviewed me once."

Stuttering over her words, as though she was having a hard time remembering the man, Lois replies, "Uh, Dr. Irons! Right."

Abruptly turning her head, abandoning the conversation she was supposed to be having, the Daily Planet reporter narrows her gaze at someone in the crowd.

Shifting her gaze to where Lois's rests, Ella sees that it is the villain disguised as a good guy himself-Lex Luthor. Immediately her gaze hardens, there is no one on this Earth that irks her more than that certain billionaire does. 

_'He is my ticket to answers,'_ Ella thinks as she subconsciously starts to tug on Lois's hand, trying to get the woman to approach Lex with her. 

Unbeknownst to her, both adults momentarily look down at her in confusion-well confusion on Dr. Iron's end. Just as the Doctor was about to ask Lois who the kid was, the ebony-haired reporter turns back to him, "I'm sorry, would you excuse me- _us_?"

Without waiting for the confused man's response, both girls turn their backs on him and start to make their way towards their target. But, upon approaching the suit-clad man, he moves away from the small group he was standing with; retreating to the stage, Ella realizes. 

Letting an annoyed scoff leave her lips, Ella starts to drag Lois to the direction of the stage instead, "C'mon."

Pushing through the crowd until they were pretty much at the front, Ella finally releases Lois's hand as Lex starts his speech, "Ladies and gentlemen, once again, I want to thank you all for giving so generously. Together, we will rebuild our great city, and ensure that we never wake to another Doomsday.

"You've seen him in the news, but you didn't know who was bankrolling him until now. Ladies and gents, I give you LexCorps' new Superman!" Luthor exclaims, pointing up at the sky as a young boy, he didn't older than El herself, came swooping down, putting on a small show for the crowd below him. 

Ella can't help the small gasp that escaped her lips as she watches the boy descend next to Luthor, _'This is the new Superman?'_

Finding her eyes glued to the boy on stage, Ella watches as he stands up with an aura of confidence she wished she herself possessed. Confetti starts to flutter down-from where, Ella's not sure-as the mysterious new Superman brushed a hand through his locks of hair, sending charming smiles at the crowd below.

A sick feeling quickly makes its way into her stomach. Lex is not a good-hearted person; _definitely_ not fit to take care of a child. She had the sudden urge to tear the boy away from his grasp, a feeling she quickly pushed down, _'Slow down Gates, you don't even know him yet.'_

Quirking an eyebrow at the boy when he struts right in front of Lex, the jacket-wearing hero's voice echos throughout the whole building, "Hello, ladies! If you want a hero who can measure up, I can-"

"-And I promise you that as long as LexCorp exists, Superman lives," Lex cuts in, effectively shutting the boy up with a hand slamming over his mouth, "Metropolis will be protected."

Deciding not to join in the crowd's applause, Ella looks up at the huge poster unraveling behind Luthor and 'Superman'. She can't help but roll her eyes at it, _'Of course Luthor would make a giant poster of his face'._

Feeling a hand fall to her shoulder, Ella turns her head to see the annoyed face of Lois, who obviously wasn't a fan of the new Superman either.

Quirking her head to the side, a silent, _'What?',_ Lois answers with a meek jab of her thumb behind her, gesturing the young hero to follow her. 

Coming up to a closed-door, Ella catches Lois's hand as she starts to approach the door, "I thought you were here to see the new Superman?"

Looking back at the green-eyed teen behind her Lois says, "I'm here for answers," and Ella can't help but notice the flash of pain and grief in her eyes.

With a slight grimace, Ella relinquishes her hold on the taller female and follows her inside. She too wanted answers, and in the back of her mind, she knew Luthor wouldn't willingly tell them anything.

Behind the door revealed to be a short hallway with at least 20 different doors in it. Both girls walked up to separate doors but to no avail, neither could open one. Ella had even let herself use a tiny bit of energy to boost up the strength of her pull. 

Abandoning her door when she heard a soft hiss, Ella sees the door at the end of the hall slowly slide open to reveal a man in a blue tux walking through. 

All it took was one look between the two for a plan to form. 

It wasn't a plan that El was particularly fond of-but a plan never the less. 

Ducking behind Lois as she started to pretend to be a helpless pretty face, Ella avoided looking at the man at all costs. That was her job-she was the shy nervous _kid_ who stayed silent; Lois would do the talking.

"Um, party's back that way," The brunet man says, hunching over a bit as though to not alert anyone of the presence of the three. 

Tapping her chin in confusion, Lois's face brightens up when she meets his gaze, "Oh, hello!"

Crossing his arms, the man has an annoyed edge to his tone as he says, "Hello."

"I was looking for someone," drawing forwards towards the glasses-wearing adult, Lois grabs his name tag, "Mr. Donovan."

Looking both ways, the aura of annoyance suddenly leaves the man as he says, "Not here," before leading Lois, and indirectly Ella, into the same room he left not too long ago. 

Slipping into the room, Ella can tell Donovan hadn't even noticed her presence earlier-if his surprised face was any hint. But, before he could question anything, Ella was quick to stick herself back to Lois's side. 

Shaking his head to clear his mind of any questions about the young brunette, Donovan's face morphs into one of recognition as he addresses Lois, "You look familiar."

Ella doesn't miss the look of panic that flashes over Lois's face before she regains her cool, "You don't look so bad yourself. You work down here? What do you do?"

"Advanced genetics. Fragmenting and manipulating DNA for molecular duplication and, ah, reproduction."

"Ohh! Sounds important."

The Doctor's tone changes to one of annoyance as he responds, "You don't think a sophisticated clone like LexCorps' new Superman out there, just happens on its own."

Momentarily forgetting about how she was supposed to stay quiet, both Ella and Lois say at the same time, "Clone?"

"That's _right."_

Eyebrows shooting up to her hairline, Ella spins around to see Lex Luthor behind her just as Donovan stutters out, "Mr. Luthor. I was just-"

"Mouthing off. Again. Word of advice, Donovan. A man who can't keep secrets shouldn't sleep around on his wife," Looking at Ella, as if realizing she was there for the first time he adds, "And in front of a child? I'm revolted."

Struggling to come up with a good excuse, the man stammers over his words, "Lex, I swear, I didn't."

"Of course, you did. And I'll deal with you later," dramatically turning his head to the side, the billionaire hisses, "Get out."

Putting her hands on her hips, Ella stands tall with mock defiance, "I am not a _child_."

Raising his eyebrow at her in an unimpressed expression, Luthor decides to humor the young girl, "Why of course not, Miss. Gates," Before turning to Lois, "Ms. Lane. I'm hurt.

"I always assumed once Superman was out of the picture, you'd rebound with me."

Just before Ella was about to spit out a snarky reply about flirting in front of the _child_ she's cut off, which seems to be a trend tonight, by a loud crash coming from the floor above them. 

"What the hell?"

"You better not be responsible for this, Lex," Ella grits out, spinning on her heels and making a dash for the elevator.

* * *

Walking out of the elevator doors, Ella was shocked to see the new ‘Superman’ come crashing down in front of her.

Falling down to her knees, the young girl was quick to check the boy’s pulse. She couldn’t help but feel protective of him, she didn’t like how he was in Luthor’s clutch.

Once she reassured herself the boy was alive, Ella let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. Glancing up at the adults behind her, Ella felt herself growing aggravated with them. She thought at the least Lois would have cared about the injured child in front of her.

She more so felt than heard the Eradicator approach the small group she was huddled with. The man’s cold hard gaze putting a sudden feeling of danger in the girl’s stomach.

Taking a few steps forward, Lex Luthor is the first to stand up to their attacker, “What do you think you're doing?”

With an even, unwavering, monotone voice the ‘Superman' responds with, “At this moment, I am answering a question posed by Lex Luthor.”

Having to refrain from letting out a small snort of amusement at that, because it seemed like the imposter had no idea he was sassing Luthor, Ella remained quiet still crouched down by Superboy, silently praying the boy would get up.

“Okay. Well, here’s another one, why the hell are you here?”

“Lex Luthor is a known criminal. Criminals must be eradicated.”

Eyes widening with sudden panic, Ella finds herself frozen in place. Realistically, she knows it’s her duty to step in and protect Lex from the attack, but for some reason, she’s glued to the floor at the clone’s side.

Left to fend for himself, the billionaire sharply turns to his left. Grabbing Mercy, Ella’s pretty sure that’s her name, he mutters out a meek, “Thank you.”

Quirking her eyebrow in confusion the only thing the brunette adult was able to say before being thrown in front of Luthor as some sort of shield was, “For what?”

Jumping up from her place on the floor, Ella realized that she had to intervene before anyone else got injured.

Ducking behind a pillar, Ella ripped her fancy attire off, effectively transforming into Gemini.

Leaping into the air, the teen hero was able to launch one of her energy orbs at her opponent's back.

Using his momentary distraction to her advantage, Ella is able to kick out her leg as hard as she could and snap the man’s head to the side, “I get that you're upset this party wasn’t for you, but violence really isn’t the answer man.”

Swiveling around faster than humanly possible, the Eradicator is able to easily swat Ella out of the sky, sending her tumbling to the tile floor.

As if Ella’s yelp of pain was some sort of trigger, Superboy was up in a blur of black and blue, knocking the Eradicator back into a nearby wall, “Sorry, pal. Crash my party, you get pounced.”

Propping herself up with a groan, Ella watches as Superboy throws her attacker into the ground, before kicking him up into the opposite wall.

Standing up, Ella zips her way to the clone’s side, thinking the battle was over. I mean, a huge boulder did just crush the older man.

But before either teen could get a word out, they watched wide-eyed as the Eradicator emerged from under the piece of debris.

Getting into a fighting stance Ella mutters to herself, “Seems like he didn’t get the memo to stay down,” though she’s pretty sure the boy beside her heard her, seeing as though he gave her a cocky side smile.

Leveling the two heroes with a blank face, the other ‘Superman’ bluntly states, “You both have been classified as priority one criminal accessories. Surrender or be eradicated.”

Swiftly putting himself between Ella and the Eradicator, Superboy quite literally barrels down towards the enemy, quick to throw punches and kicks at him.

Landing soundlessly beside the jacket-clad clone, Ella charges up her hands just in case as the boy says, “Well, you’ve been classified as a priority one dirtbag, so, there!” and proceeds to repeatedly smack his fists into the visor-wearing ‘hero’.

Before Ella can even blink, the Eradicator suddenly has Superboy in a chokehold. Letting her hands fly up in front of her, Ella yells out, “Let go of him!”

As if he was listening to her command, the Eradicator thrusts his arm back, before chucking Superboy forward, sending the young clone harshly to the ground.

Ella felt her heart stop as she realized she wasn’t going to reach Superboy fast enough. The Eradicator was already right above him, getting ready to attempt to crush the young teen.

Ella watched helplessly as Superboy tried to block himself. She felt a scream erupt through her throat at the same time Superboy’s cry of pain shot out.

When she finally reached them, Ella threw as many orbs at the man as she could. But, instead of them throwing him off the boy they just seemed to agitate him, “He’s just a kid! Leave him alone!”

Grabbing her throat much like he did Superboy’s, the Eradicator slammed the girls back into the ground before proceeding to punch the blue-eyed boy below him.

Getting up just as the caped villain shot off, Ella crawled to Superboy’s side. Putting her hand on the barely coherent boy’s cheek, Ella looked him over to see the extent of his injuries, “Superboy, you gotta stay awake, stay with me okay?”

Letting out a groan of pain, the young clone shifted in Ella’s grasp before rasping out to the retreading form above them, “Yeah! You better run! Jerk!”

Slapping her glove-clad hand over the raven’s mouth, Ella harshly whispered to him, “Do you have a death wish or something!? He was leaving!”

Snapping her head up to the sky as she heard the telltale sound of wind, Ella let out a whimper as she saw the Eradicator speeding towards them, too fast for them to have any time to move with an injured Superboy.

“Uh oh.”

“Oh god.”

Raising her glowing fist at the same time Superboy desperately tried to shield himself with his own, Ella prayed to anyone who would listen that this would not be the way she goes out.

Then, as if her prayers were answered, a mallet flies through the sky knocking the Eradicator away from Ella and Superboy.

Sitting up with the young magician's help, Superboy glares at their savior as he says, “Hey! We had that guy.”

Walking past them, the armored Superman sarcastically says, “By all means, go to town, Superboy.”

“It's Super _man._ ”

Laughing a little at the ridiculous boy in front of her, Ella stayed with the injured clone as the showdown between the Eradicator and Cyborg Superman took place.

Watching intently as they battled, Ella’s stomach dropped when they both started to charge up their eyes and hands, getting ready to blast each other into pieces.

Throwing Superboy's arm around her shoulder, Ella held onto his hand and waist as she shot off into the sky to safety.

* * *

_"Baby, I'm dying for another taste"-Electric Love, Borns_

* * *

**A/N:**

**Heyo! I hope you guy's enjoyed the first chapter~ This book will 100% get updated the fastest; shorter chapters and more inspiration.**

**But meet DCAU!Ella~ How could I plug her into YJ and then just leave her out of the movie franchise? Gotta admit though, this version of Conner was the main reason I did it lmao ^^;;;**

**The picture at the top was a commission I got done by dovenoire on DA, go give her some love <33**

**Ella is mine, DC and it's characters are not**


	2. Tab Bit Squeamish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella and Kon have some interactions! Will she be endeared to him? Or will his flirtatious nature scare her away?

* * *

_"And every night my mind is running around her"-Electric Love, Burns_

* * *

Fleeing from the flames consuming the once sleek, clean building, Ella steals a glance at the young boy in her arms. She notes his pout-obviously embarrassed to have to be dragged out of there by someone else.

Just by the way the boy fought inside, and how he is acting now, it's clear to anyone who looks close enough that the ebony is desperate to prove himself. 

To the public or Lex? That one is up for debate.

Ella lets her eyes take in his physical appearance-raven hair, icy blue eyes, fair skin, and a leather jacket. It didn't take a genius to recognize that the young hero was definitely good looking. That thought brought a flush to the brunette hero's face, _'You're not here to fall in love; just get some answers and be on your way.'_

A loud explosion behind the teens prompts Ella to speed a bit faster, reminded of what she was supposed to be doing at the moment.

The second Ella's boots hit the ground, dozens of reporters, ambulances, and fire trucks surround the two teens. Subconsciously stepping behind the boy of steel, the girl lets out a whimpered, ' _eek'_ at the sudden attention. The magician was not one for the spotlight, but thankfully the clone in front of her most certainly was.

"Superboy!"

"Look here please!"

"Who is that behind you?"

"Oh thank you for saving us!"

Smiling cheekily at all the cameras, Superboy crosses his arms over the shield on his chest as he says, "Oh! No problemo. Me and..." the boy trailed off, looking over his shoulder at the cowering girl behind him.

"Gemini," Ella offered, it was so quiet that if the boy didn't have super hearing she wasn't sure he would have ever heard.

Face morphing into one of concern, the super-powered clone slyly snatches Ella's glove-glad hand in his own. Away from any prying cameras, and grounding the skittish girl.

"Me and _Gemini_ here were just doin' our jobs. Like the boss says, as long as LexCorp exists, Superman lives," putting his hands on his hips in confidence the boy continues, "And I'm Superman. Me."

If it weren't for the cameras being shoved in their faces, Ella would have strangled the boy right then and there.

"There he is! Over there!" And suddenly, all the attention was off of them, just like that.

Slumping out of pure relief, Ella catches sight of their still intertwined hands. She had been way too busy freaking out to actually register what was happening when the blue-eyed super snagged her hand.

Just as she was about to pull her hand away and question the boy, he cuts her off, 

"Are you okay?"

Meeting his eyes in alarm, Ella furrows her eyebrows in offense, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You got a little.... _squeamish_ there," Superboy replies, arms waving around to exaggerate his point.

Pouting a little, Ella crosses her arms over her chest, "I did _not_."

Raising his eyebrow unimpressed, a smug smile takes over the raven's face, "You didn't?"

" _No._ "

"Do you want me to get 'Mr. Eradicator' back over here? Cause you seemed to like him a lot more than those reporters."

Face flushing in embarrassment, Ella retorts, "Are you sure one of your powers isn't Super _sass_?"

Laughing fondly, a boyish smile takes over Superboy's face, "Good one cutie, good one."

Ella felt her mouth drop open a bit in surprise at the flirt. It came out of nowhere, I mean they were just _bickering_. Though, it's not like she exactly minded-not like she was protesting it; it was just...suprising. _'In a good way,'_ the girl concludes. 

And before she can stop herself, Ella is matching Superboy's smile wholeheartedly. 

The clicking of heels behind them snaps the two teens out of their trance. Looking back, the source of the noise is revealed to be none other than Lois Lane, "Nice work in there you two. Thank you."

"We never even found out who he was, or what he wanted," Ella said, voice taking on a tone of aggravation.

Crossing his arms over his chest, the jacket-clad hero's voice matches the brunette's tone, "Yeah, he got away."

"So did we," the voice of Dr. Irons booms. The man had seemingly come out of nowhere, dusting his suit jacket off and standing to join their little huddle.

Hand coming to her chin, Ella tips her head up in confusion, "How did you get out?"

Whipping around to face Dr. Irons, Superboy looks up at the man obviously considering the question the other hero had just asked, "What happened to the man in steel?"

A look of panic flashed before the doctor's face, something neither teen seemed to notice before he said, "He took off."

Turning to look at Superboy, Ella notes that he seems to see something off with the adult's story too. Catching his gaze, Ella offer's him a meek shoulder shrug, a silent _'let it go.'_ The boy seems to get the message, seeing as though his heads bobs up and down once, signaling he understood.

Jabbing her hand out in the ebony's face, Lois introduces herself, "Lois Lane. Daily Planet."

Looking the older woman up and down, Ella's stomach sinks as she sees the same flirtatious smile that was once directed at her adorn his face, "So, how old are you?"

Fixing the teen with a glare, Lois' hands move down to her hips as she bites out, "Excuse me? How old are you?"

"Old enough," Superboy retorts, dropping his gaze for a second to try and seem nonchalant.

Without waiting for a response from the woman, the boy of steel whips around to face Ella, "Later, babe. Hit me up!" before leaping into the air and taking off into the night sky.

The short brunette can't even imagine how stupid she must look; cheeks flushed, mouth agape and eyes glued to the sky where the boy's lean form just was. 

Walking up to her, Lois places a hand on Ella's shoulder as she too gazes up to the night sky, "Well that was....revolting."

Eyes never leaving the stars dancing in the sky, all Ella could muster to say was, "Yeah, sure was."

Unbeknownst to the green-eyed girl, Lois shot a knowing smile at her shorter form before leaving her side, walking back to stand next to Dr. Irons as she says, "So do you mind telling me what the heck you were doing in that lab?"

Ears perking at that, because hey she wanted to know the answer as well, Ella finally tore her gaze away-with some effort-from the sky and turned around to fully face both adults now in front of her. 

"I used to work there. I suspect Lex had been using tech I developed to retrofit weapons for the black market," irons said, only stumbling a little in the beginning, "What the heck were you doing with Donovan?" Looking back at the super teen behind him he adds, "With the kid?"

"Finding out that Superboy is a clone," Lois informs, face taking on a serious turn. It was obvious that fact bothered her, but Ella couldn't decipher if it was because of the clone bit, or because it was obvious Lex didn't exactly want to be a Dad all of a sudden; there was no way the boy was being treated as well as a child should.

Turning her back on the adults once again, Ella's gaze was pulled to the sky. She didn't know why, but it was almost like she couldn't stop staring at the last place she saw the clone. Logically, she knew he was long gone, so why was she so persistent on watching the last place she could track him to?

She doesn't know how long she stood there, but it must have been at least a few minutes because when Lois appeared in front of her, Dr. Irons seemed to have already left, "C'mon kid, let's head back to my place."

Snapping out of her daze, Ella shook her head childishly hoping it would get rid of the images of the charming boyish smile of Superboy out of her head.

Allowing Lois to lead her away to her car, the second her head hit the backing of the passenger seat, the brunette was out like a light. 

* * *

_"Thunders getting louder and louder"-Electrive Love, Burns_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> Gahh I know, I know, this was a short chapter! But hey, in my defence there wasn't much to write Ella into for this scene xD And I think shorter chapters will work best for this book anyway? That way I can break up scenes between chapter how I want, and get more chapters out faster! cause I mean every other book I write has wicked long chapters and look at how frequently I update those
> 
> But, regardless of the chapter's length, I hope you enjoyed! I tried to keep her and Kon's interactions cute and light hearted so I hope I succeeded in that lmao!~
> 
> That's all I gotta say for now, this will probably be like legit the shortest chapter I write in this book so be ready for longer ones xD
> 
> -Kori


	3. Work In Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella and Superboy have some bonding time! Though, a certain member of the batfamily decides to interrupt

* * *

_"Baby, your like lightning in a bottle"-Electric Love, Borns"_

* * *

Ever since that battle with the Eradicator, Ella and Superboy had become somewhat of a duo; teaming up to keep the streets of Metropolis safe. 

It's not something that Ella was proud to admit, but the more time she spent with Superboy, the less she wanted to finish her 'mission'. Once she got the information she needed, she'd have no reason to stick around in Metropolis. 

But, now was not the time to ponder on those thoughts; she had patrol to get to. 

Pulling on her gloves and boots, Ella hops around Lois' kitchen opening draw after draw. She needed a piece of paper or anything she could write on really, and a pen. She didn't really feel like given the Daily Planet reporter a heart attack by disappearing for numerous hours.

Stumbling over her feet as she yanks her boots on, Ella swings open the drawer closest to the fridge. It looks like a clutter draw-filled with random nick-nacks like various trinkets and key chains. Among the items were a pad of lined yellow paper and a gel pen. 

Muttering out a quite, "Finally," to herself, Ella quickly scribbles out in her neat handwriting, _'On patrol with Superkid, be back soon!'_

Taping the note onto the stainless-steel fridge, Ella spins on her heels and all but sprints her way to the balcony. Making her way to the railing, laughing all the way, Ella kicks up and stands on the metal bars. Sweeping her hands through her thick auburn hair, Ella twirls around and falls backward, feeling her back slice through the warm city air as she descends toward the ground. 

Admitably, this was her favorite part of patroling. Nothing could match the adrenalin that shoots through her body, the overwhelming happiness she feels flying through the starlit sky.

Flipping her body over so her stomach is facing the buildings below, Ella bends her left leg and surges forward, finally using her flight ability to seize her falling. 

She was making her way to the Daily Planet Globe, where she was set to meet up with Superboy. She knew Luthor wasn't happy that the raven-haired boy was teaming up with her, but neither teen could imagine fighting crime without the other. 

They haven't been teammates long, yet somehow it feels like they have been for years.

Their powers and personalities just mixed so well; Superboy with brute strength and impulsiveness, and Gemini with strategy and kindness. 

Approaching the newspaper building's globe, Ella takes a moment to locate Superboy, who is sitting on the edge of the building opposite to her, swinging his legs back and forth over the side.

It reminded the young magician of an excited little kid waiting to see Santa Clause or get a new toy. That thought brought a fond smile to the teen's face as she descended down behind the super. 

Plopping down next to him, Ella uses her palms to support her weight as she too dangles her legs off the side of the building. Cities were always the prettiest at night, the car lights and skyscrapers making the city shine bright.

Turning to the french girl beside him, Superboy is the first to speak, "Fancy meeting you here."

Momentarily shifting her gaze to his face, Ella sees a fond smile on the boy's lips, "Same to you, I was just sight seeing."

Letting out a laugh, the ebony draws his legs back, now sitting criss-cross on the ledge, "Hey, I was here first so for all I know _you_ were scoping out for _me_."

Raising her eyebrows at the light-hearted accusation, Ella nonchalantly tilts her head to the side as she slyly replies, "Perhaps I was."

Strumming his fingers on his thighs, the young super blows his bangs out of his face before saying, "And what was a Teen Titan doing out here, lookin' for little ol' me for?"

"I think you know why, Sherlock," brushing the windswept hair from her face, Ella leans forward a little to get a better view of the streets below. She'd just sit here all night if she could. 

Crossing his arms over the 'S' insignia on his chest, Superboy catches Ella's emerald eyes with his icy blues, "Humor me, babe."

Sighing slightly at his use of the word 'babe', because if one thing was for certain, the young clone was a helpless flirt, Ella starts to fiddle with a loose thread on her pants, "I heard there was a crazy clone running around with a ridiculous haircut, I wanted to see it for myself," her hands fawning out in front of her, to help further exaggerate her statement. 

"Hey!" the boy cried out, hands flying to his hair, "What's wrong with my hair?"

Laughing out at the pure look of fear on the boy's face, Ella tries to muffle her laughter by covering her mouth. She isn't exactly successful, giggles still escaping her every few seconds. Though, Superboy didn't seem to notice; too stuck in his own self-pity to truly pay attention to Ella's laughter. 

Before either hero could say anything else, a ringtone abruptly cuts through the chilly night air. Hands patting around her pockets, Ella finds out it's her phone that is going off. 

Shooting the teen next to her an apologetic look, Ella whips out her phone to look at the caller ID. Her eyes widen comically at the contact name popping up on the screen.

Why the hell is Damian Wayne calling her? Well, more so _Robin,_ as he's listed in her phone. 

Curiosity seemed to have gotten the better of Superboy when he saw Ella's shocked, and slightly fearful, face. Crawling closer to the girl's side, the raven peeked his head over the brunette's shoulder to take a look at who's disrupting their 'patrol'. 

"Robin, _the boy wonder,_ is calling you?!"

Fumbling slightly with the Wayne-Tech device in her hand, Ella shoots Superboy a panicked look, "Yes! And trust me, he's not very pleasant if I do say so myself."

Without waiting for the confused clone's reply, Ella reluctantly answers the phone. She puts it on speaker, knowing the jacket-clad boy next to her would bug her during the whole phone call if she didn't. 

_"Nice to see you're actually capable of picking up your phone, Gates."_

Ah Damian, always one for pleasantries. 

Scrunching her nose up in confusion, Ella asks, "What are you talking about?"

An annoyed sigh is heard over the line, and it's quite clear that the boy wonder is beyond pissed with Ella right now. Looking at Superboy out of the corner's of her eye, Ella can tell that he's trying to be as quiet as possible. The Titan seemed serious when she said Robin wasn't a pleasant person to keep a conversation with, so he wasn't exactly looking to make his presence known. 

_"Don't be dense, Gates. The team has been trying to get in contact with you for the past 48 hours."_

A sudden sheepish feeling made its way into the magician's stomach. No wonder he sounds so pissed, Ella's sure she's been all over the new and internet with the new so-called 'Superman' and she never exactly told the Titans what she was doing. 

"And you were elected most fit to make this call because?"

_"-TT- There was no election. Do you really believe I would participate in some schoolyard vote?"_

"Not at all," Smiling a bit to herself, Ella clears her throat and forces the conversation back on topic, "So, why are you calling anyways? You must have seen me on the news, you know where I am and what I'm doing."

_"Of course I know all of that, I'm the world's greatest detective. I merely called to let you know how idiotic you are being."_

Sharing a look with the confused Super teen by her side, Ella rolls her eyes in aggravation. She knows where this conversation is going, "Oh really? How so?"

_"That Superbrat is a Luthor. If you don't think Lex has some sort of programming in the clone or plans for him to take you out, then you are a hell of a lot dumber than I once took you for."_

Anger started to bubble up in Ella's stomach at that. Damian hasn't even met Superboy yet, who does he think he is? Realistically, Ella knows he could be right to some degree, but if he is there is no way in hell she is going to let Lex control the boy next to her how he wanted,

"That's a bold statement coming from the _Batbrat_ himself," Rubbing her hand over her face Ella feels a hand lightly rest on her shoulder. Leaning into it a bit, Ella finds a startling amount of comfort come from the small gesture, "Look, Robin, thanks for the words of..... _concern_ but I can handle myself out here."

_"Figure out where your loyalties lie, Elianna, with the Superbaby_ _or the Titans."_

And with that, the boy hung up. For a few minutes, no sound was made between the pair. Then, Ella abruptly stands up so fast that it sends Superboy scrambling back a bit. The girl's face is contorted into pure anger and aggravation as she balls her hands into fists, "He is _insufferable!_ " 

Pretending not to hear the magician's childish outburst, Superboy untangles his legs from under him and once again lets them swing over the edge of the building, "Elianna, huh?"

"What?" Ella asked turning around. Her anger was momentarily gone, replaced by pure confusion aimed at the super clone on the floor. 

"I like it. Classy, elegant, flowy. Maybe a bit too long though, I think you look more like an Ella personally."

As much as Ella still wanted to be mad at that moment, it was like all her anger had evaporated. She didn't seem to have it in her to take any more of her aggravation with the boy wonder out on the quiet sky. Unclenching her fists, Ella strolls back to the pale-eyed boy before plopping down beside him.

Dropping her head in her hands a muffled apology is heard, "I'm sorry, we're not always like that. We're close-best friends actually. It's just, he just, he can get so overbearing sometimes and I just _snap_." 

Ella can feel the Kryptonian's pitful gaze on her. Most of the time the girl hates pity, but there's something more to the boy's gaze. It looks like a shine of understanding?

"It's okay. It kind of reminds me of Lex actually."

Dropping her hands from her face, Ella shoots the boy an amused look, "Don't let bird brain hear that, he'll pop a blood vessel."

With a soft chuckle, the boy cards his hands through his short hair; something he does a lot, Ella notices, "God he just-he _always_ thinks he's right. I'm usually a very 'go with the flow' kinda guy y'know? But man, I've never met someone so stubborn."

Lips tipping down into a frown, Ella turns her head away slightly. She can't believe she almost forgot how obvious it was that Lex wasn't treating Superboy like he should. Not abuse exactly-but she's sure the boy is treated more like a weapon than an actual human. 

Just then, a realization hit the young Titan. She was never able to catch his real name, and now, thanks to Damian, he knows hers. 

A teasing smirk taking shape on her face, Ella turns back to catch the gaze of the hero once more, "So, does Superboy have a name too?"

The french girl was expecting some sort of smooth come back, or response, not the sheepish smile that adorned the pale cheeks of her 'teammate'. Ella's quite sure she's never seen that look on his face before; he was always so confident, pretty much never doubting himself or his abilities. 

"Actually he doesn't," Shrugging his shoulders the boy finishes, "Kind of a work in progress at the moment."

Just as Ella was about to question just _how_ he didn't have a name, the familiar shriek of an ambulance pierced right through their conversation. 

Popping up from her spot on the rooftop, Ella looks down at the still sitting clone, "Looks like we're needed elsewhere Superboy," extending her small hand out for the hero's slightly larger one to latch onto she asks, "Work in progress?"

Gripping the hand offered to him, Superboy looks Ella in the face with a genuine smile as he says, "Work in progress."

Pulling the raven to his feet, Ella walks in front of him to the edge of the building. Looking over her shoulder slightly, Ella barely contains her Cheshire cat sized smile as she challenges the Kryptonian, "Race you there?" 

Lunging off of the building, Ella shoots off as fast as her powers will allow her, leaving a quiet ' _boom'_ in the spot she first took off.

And when Superboy comes plowing past her, cackling as he goes, Ella isn't at all mad that it's quite obvious she's going to be losing this race.

* * *

Arriving on scene, Ella finds Superboy to be talking to one of the many firefighters pulled up to the house. They had followed the ambulance's sirens to here--a good-sized house fire. 

Strolling up to the pair, Ella asks, "Any info?"

Eyes sparking with a twinkle of excitement, Superboy is the one who answers, "Yes! Everyone got out safely, except for one missing child--a little girl."

To anyone the boy's excitement would seem very out of place, this was definitely a dire situation, but Ella knew better than to think it's because the little girl is in trouble. Despite his flirtatious nature, Superboy has an incredibly kind heart that is way too big for this world, so he's just excited to help someone out--along with all of the positive social media attention that comes with it. 

Turning his attention back to the firefighter, Superboy has his hands on his hips, a clear way of showing off his 'S' insignia, as well as the confidence he possesses, "Don't worry about the girl, me and Gemini have that under control. Stay out of danger and focus on putting this fire out. Okay?"

The older man only gave the hero a curt nod of acknowledgment, he obviously wasn't used to taking orders from a child, and turned around to start yelling orders at all of his fellow colleagues. 

Crouching down, ready to fly off, Superboy was stopped by a hand grabbing onto his forearm--a little frantic, he notices. Turning around to his 'partner' he seems an equally fearful and confident expression on her face. And if he's being honest, he's not sure if that should scare him or not. 

Stepping in front of the Kryptonian, Ella points her arm in front of her, palm facing towards the burning building, "Let me go first, I can protect us from the flames," A yellow light suddenly engulfed them--some sort of energy-based shield. 

"Am I even Flammable?" The slightly taller teen asked, half-joking, half-serious. 

Feet leaving the ground ever so slightly, Ella gets ready to take off into the house, "Honestly? Not sure, but I don't feel like finding out."

The rescue went off without a hitch, well there were a few moments where Ella considered kicking Superboy out of her energy shield because, _"Your so hot, a firefighter couldn't put you out!",_ but other than that everything went smoothly. Ella was able to protect them from the growing flames and Superboy carried the small girl to safety. 

The smile on the parent's faces when they saw their baby safe was worth all of the awful flirting. 

After a quick run-in with the press, which is something Ella still hid behind Superboy during, both teens finally found a sufficient escape route and made their way back to the Daily Planet globe. 

Pulling out her phone from her pocket, Ella checked the time. It was about 2 in the morning; perfect time to end patrol and catch up on some sleep. Maybe she would even drop Damian a small apology text, lord knows all members of the batfam were still awake. 

Turning to the boy slightly behind her, Ella bids him goodbye, "Well, this was fun. We should go out more often."

Rubbing the back of his neck, the Kryptonian clone sets his gaze just to the left of the brunette, looking a little sheepish, "I wish. Lex packed my schedule with press meetings and other crap he kept yapping about," meeting his blue eyes to green, a smug smile starts to creep up his face, "Unless you wanted to be my plus one?"

Laughing yet again at his pitful attempt to flirt, Ella hops off the edge of the building and twirls around to face him once more, suspended above Metropolis, "I'll be around, maybe I'll catch you on the street," flying away, Ella leaves the raven boy on the rooftop, staring at her retreating figure much like how she did to him not too long ago. 

Neither teen had any idea what they would be facing in the next few days. 

* * *

_"I can't let you go now that I got it"-Electric Love, Burns_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> As promised, this chapter is about double the size of the last! This chapter is around 8.5 pages, while the last was around 4 lmao
> 
> I was just going to skip this fire rescue scene because In the movie it's like a 2-second clip, but I wanted Ella and Superboy to have a little bit of bonding time before all the crazy fights happen so I decided to add this in!
> 
> I hope you guys like this chapter, there wasn't much action here, but I hope the interaction between these two dummies made up for it xD
> 
> -Kori


	4. The Only Ones Left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, how Ella wished she could have unfrozen herself at that moment.
> 
> Ripping his hand back, forcing the boy to look at him, Lex tightens his grip on the small face before spitting out, "The only difference between you and a biological child is that I've invested a hell of a lot more capital to bring you to the party."
> 
> It was seeing Superboy's slightly fearful eyes and his small pained grunt that got Ella out of her daze. With one hand shooting towards the car door, and the other out in front of her, a yellow shield places itself between lex's hand and Superboy's face; effectively protecting him from being grabbed again as the window rolls down. 
> 
> Taking in a small calming breath to stop her racing heart, Ella looks Lex in the eyes, "Enough."

* * *

_"And all I need is to be struck by your electric love"-Electric Love, Borns_

* * *

The press and fan meet and greets are two _very_ different things.

This thought played like a mantra over and over again through Ella's head as she stood next to Superboy-Super _man_ , smiling, and taking picture after picture with fans. 

Ok, well, it's more like Superman was. Everyone once in a while the magician would be beckoned over by a fan to join in a picture, but for the most part, everyone was swooning over 'Superman'. Not that Ella was complaining, _no_ , she was perfectly 100% aye-okay with a swarm of girls throwing themselves at her partner in crime.

Okay--maybe she was a _little_ bothered by it.

"Hey, Gem-Gemini? Can I uh-can I get a picture real quick?"

Momentarily pulled out of her self-loathing, Ella snaps back to reality to see a boy around her age, maybe a year older judging by his height and build, fidget nervously in front of her. A cheeky smile makes it's way onto the girl's face because she _also_ notices a certain Super's harsh glare at the boy.

"Sure uh..."

"Dean--Dean Carter."

Jutting her hand out at the flustered blonde, Ella keeps her wide grin planted on her face, "It'd be a pleasure to take a photo with you, _Dean_."

It was almost like the blue-eyed boy had gotten some of his bravado back at that moment, "C'mere, I don't wanna hold you up _too_ long, I'm sure you have quite the crowd of other boys dying to meet you."

"Yeah right, cause I'm _such_ a steal," it was the Titan's turn to become flustered, she hadn't expected such a bold statement from the once awkward stuttering mess of the boy before her. 

Wrapping one arm around Dean, as one of his finds the small of her back, Ella smiles brightly at the camera pointing towards them. It was another boy around her age taking the photo--one of Dean's friends the brunette concludes. 

What the 15-year-old wasn't expecting was as she tried to pull away from the blonde, one of his hands caught her wrist pulling her back. Slipping something into her palm, his voice drops to a whisper as he locks eyes with the hero, "You really are," before turning around and essentially disappearing into the small crowd of fans. 

It felt like she was in a movie--a really bad, low budget, teenage romance chick flick. The only difference between her situation and what usually happens in those movies is that instead of falling for the mysterious 'bad boy' that just gave her his number, she was _amused_.

To anyone else, it probably wasn't funny, but something about the ordeal that just took place leaves the magician feeling slightly embarrassed for the now long gone teen. If you asked Ella _why_ the situation was so hilarious to her she honestly wouldn't be able to tell you. Maybe it was how confident the boy was--acting as if no girl has ever said no to him before, or maybe the way his personality did a whole 360 in a matter of two seconds--who knows?

"We're you just _flirted_ with?" turning her attention to where the voice came from, Ella sees Superboy standing next to her now, seemingly able to escape the fangirls for a minute. 

Shoving the piece of paper with Dean's number into the raven's chest, Ella says, "As if. One of his friends was too scared to talk to you, apparently, they wanted to give you their number."

"Is it a hot babe?" Arching an eyebrow at her, the clone inspects the small piece of paper. A smug smile takes over his face as he flips it around, "For some reason, I don't believe you."

Taking a closer look at the scribbled writing, Ella notices that under the numbers there is a very small note that reads, _'Thought I'd steal your heart, Gemini <3'_. 

Rolling her eyes at the cheesy line as Superboy rips the paper up with a cackle, a limo suddenly rolls upright in front of the pair. Watching as the window slides down, Lex Luthor's _very_ annoyed face is revealed, "Get _in_." His voice is curt, eyes staring daggers at the boy next to her. 

Scoffing to herself, Ella slides right in front of the Super, "He's not going anywhere with you." She might get bad publicity for throwing a temper tantrum at Lex Luthor, but right now the brunette could really care less about her reputation. She had one goal in her mind and one only.

Superboy is no longer allowed to be alone with Lex. 

Letting a drawn-out sigh come out, it's obvious the older man is trying desperately not to let his temper take over, "Fine. _Both_ of you. Get. In."

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Ella's never been in a limo before. Unfortunately, being Damian's best friend didn't come with that perk like she thought it would have. 

The brunette doesn't really know what to do with herself at the moment. She's sitting next to Superboy, in the corner seat so that her back faces the window fidgeting around nervously. 

She hasn't been listening to whatever Lex was ranting about, but it can't be that important because one look at the raven sitting next to her and she knows he isn't paying attention either. 

He's been playing with the window the whole time, the sound of it starting to drive the female hero crazy, and she can feel his hand digging into her side; not a pleasant feeling. But, she wasn't about to interrupt Lex, not when he looked so frustrated. 

"Stop that!" Head snapping up at the sudden outburst, Ella realizes the businessman must have been fed up with the window noises too, seeing as though his shout was directed at the clone next to her. 

If the tension in the car wasn't so tense Ella would have burst out laughing at the way the raven crosses his arms over his chest and pouted like a child at being yelled at. Instead, the girl just turned her head away slightly to hide her tiny smile tugging at her lips. 

"Where's Mercy?" Pursing her lips in thought, Ella starts to remember the short-haired brunette at the charity event. Last she saw of the woman she was unconscious on the floor after being knocked out by the eradicator,

"Yeah, is she alright?"

Without looking at either teen, Luthor responds, "Still _missing,_ " his eyes shift to look at Superboy, "Thanks to _you,"_ and Ella feels like it's a little unfair that only the boy next to her is getting blamed because hey, she was there too. 

"Have you seen the newspapers?" 

Still refusing to look at the man beside him, Superboy snaps back, "Yeah, I've seen them all over the place, " which in turn, earns him a sharp elbow to the ribs by the brunette on his other side.

Ignoring the sassy reply, as if he was used to it at this point, Lex picks up a TV remote and points it at the screen in front of him, a feature Ella had yet to notice, "Have you _read_ them."

From the place the teen girl is seated, Ella doesn't have a full view of the electronic screen. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, the young titan leans closer to the clone next to her and tries to not focus on how she can feel his light breath on the side of her face as she reads the screen. 

It's an article from the daily planet, _'Superman Returns!',_ and a sudden feeling of pride washes over the green-eyed hero because that's all that the blue-eyed boy next to her--almost behind her now, wanted. He's Super _man_ now, not Super _boy_ as Ella keeps accidentally referring to him as. 

A little laugh escapes the magician's throat as her friend yells, "Oh. Right on!"

Their celebration was short-lived though, because as Lex scrolled down further into the article the subtitle, _'Superman Or Supersham?',_ became visible on-screen with a picture of Superboy below it. 

Raising an eyebrow toward the bald man a few seats away, Ella says, "Aren't _you_ the one who's had him prancing around like a show pony at interviews?"

"Yeah, this really reflects on you," Turning his head to the side, the girl's raven friend muttered, staring out the window slightly behind her. 

Ignoring the snarky comments, Lex continues to keep his glare trained on the clone, "Do you know what they're calling you? Super _boy._ "

"But, I'm Super _man_ ," a look of disbelief and confusion takes over the teens face. 

And even if Ella disagrees, even if she thinks trying to market a teenager as the new Superman was a stupid move, she knows how much it hurts to have people purposefully look down on you because of your age. 

"They didn't get the memo."

Placing one of her gloved hands over the Kryptonian's own, Ella takes a deep breath before addressing Lex, "The world needs _time_ , did you seriously expect everyone to accept a new man of steel overnight? Not to mention there are _three_ other Supers running around."

"This whole roll-out has been an entire disaster. We don't _have_ time; goggles and the robot are getting all the good press. While your strutting across TV screens like a clown."

Gaze hardening, Superboy slips his hand out from under Ella's as he turns to look at Lex, "Don't you mean _clone_? Thanks for the heads-up by the way."

And Ella knew she should have stepped in there, Lex was beyond annoyed and the more Superboy sassed him the sourer his mood got. She knew this--yet she stayed silent. It was almost like her lips were glued shut; and she still regrets not butting in to this day. 

"Oh, _please._ So you were genetically engineered. Who isn't? A little DNA from here, some from there. Bam! You're born. _Mazel Tov!"_

The man's face then took on a snarl, obviously agitated by the lack of response from the clone-boy. This is where Ella truly felt her stomach drop as Lex leaned over towards the oblivious boy, hand shooting out towards his face. 

Oh, how Ella wished she could have unfrozen herself at that moment.

Ripping his hand back, forcing the boy to look at him, Lex tightens his grip on the small face before spitting out, "The only difference between you and a biological child is that I've invested a hell of a lot more capital to bring you to the party."

It was seeing Superboy's slightly fearful eyes and his small pained grunt that got Ella out of her daze. With one hand shooting towards the car door, and the other out in front of her, a yellow shield places itself between lex's hand and Superboy's face; effectively protecting him from being grabbed again as the window rolls down. 

Taking in a small calming breath to stop her racing heart, Ella looks Lex in the eyes, " _Enough._ "

And maybe if the window was up; if he wasn't in jeopardy of having someone else see this exchange than maybe he would have argued with her, but it wasn't so all the billionaire could do was fix his tux and settle back into his seat.

No longer worried about another surprise attack, Ella lets her hands find their way to either side of the paler boy's cheeks, inspecting his face for any marks. 

She's only satisfied that he's okay when a small smile takes over his face, void of any pain he was possibly feeling. 

" _So,_ we are going to start again. It's a relaunch. Superman 2.0.1," face scrunching with slight disgust the man continues, "That awful, but we'll let marketing sort it all out."

Sighing in slight exasperation, Super _man_ asks, "What do you want us to do?"

"You've had your fun, _Superboy_ , but now it's time to act like a man. I got you a gig."

"....Can I take Gemsi?"

" _Fine_. Take your pesky little friend."

* * *

When Lex said he had a gig for the two of them, working alongside the Justice League was not what Ella expected. 

Standing on the top of a skyscraper next to Super _man_ , the brunette twitches nervously, "We're actually doing this aren't we?"

Snorting in amusement at the girl, a boyish smile takes over the teen's face, "Course we are! C'mon," grabbing onto her forearm, Superboy successfully drags the titan off the roof, electing a surprised squeak from her.

Jokingly shoving away from the male, Ella takes off past him before hearing a weird buzz from the LexCorp comm in her ear, " _They just passed Burnett Boulevard. Coming up on Rodeo."_

So she's linked up to the Justice League huh? One look at Superboy tells her he is too.

_"I think they say Ro-day-o."_

_"They're wrong. Lanturn?"_

_"Yeah, I say Ro-day-o."_

_"Report."_

_"Oh! Smooth sailing up here. Flash?"_

_"I just wanna ask-"_

_"Ah, here it comes."_

_"I'm just saying. Are we presidential bodyguards, or are we the Justice League?"_

_"Today, we're bodyguards."_

_"And you don't think there's other stuff we should be doing?"_

_"The Titans have it covered."_

Hearing that causes a soft, slightly sad smile to overtake the flying hero's face. It was good to hear the status of her team, though a part of her wished she was there with them.

_"The teen Titans. Oh yeah! I feel good about that."_

With a slightly angered face, Ella couldn't help the offended, "Hey!" that escaped her lips.

The Kryptonian next to her must have noticed, because he sent her a smug look before calling out, "Chillax, Zippy. The Titans are cool."

_"Zippy? Wait did he just say "chillax"?"_

Before either teen could say anything to that, Martian Manhunter glides down on Superboy's right, tone authoritative enough to make Ella roll her eyes, "Young man, stay off this frequency. It's for league members only."

Ella knew why she wasn't getting yelled at, she was Aries' kid, one of the founding members of the League. She wouldn't get yelled at for being on their frequency but probably questioned for being with a LexCorp kid. 

Though the scold didn't seem to put a dent in the boy's mood as he said, " _No,_ it's for the President's protective detail. As the new head of LexCorp global security, I qualify," and Ella has to turn her head away to keep the martian from seeing her small smirk. 

_"I have the shot."_ Suddenly rings in the hero's ear, alerting her to Green Lanterns plan. I mean seriously, did he already forget that both her and Superboy can hear him?

The next statement though is what really startled her, _"I say take it."_

Eyebrows shooting up, Ella presses her finger to her comm, "Okay, okay, enough of that. He's with me, no need to take him out." 

_"Yeah, and what's that all about?"_ comes the teasing, and slightly snarky, reply of Hal Jordan. 

Ears tinged pink Ella was about to reply when she was cut off by Flash, _"You join LexCorp or something kid?"_

Scoffing at the accusation, Ella says, " _No,_ we met at the charity gala, I'm not working with _Luthor_ of all people."

_"Woah, it's not like I accused you two of dating or anything."_

_"Okay. Can we speed this up, because if I'm not home by dinner Iris is gonna kill me."_

Letting out a soft " _finally,"_ under her breath, too quiet for the comms to pick up, Ella speeds up a bit, staying at the front of the league with Superboy next to her.

It seems like the boy must get bored with the slow pace though because his hand juts out and clasps onto her's before he's speeding off; taking the brunette with him. 

Opting to stay away from the spotlight, Ella stands quite a few paces behind Wonder Woman as Superboy floats down to let the President out of her car. 

Electing to ignore the League banter, Ella doesn't even know why the raven now next to her is laughing, or calling the league " _Funky Fresh!,"_ but she doesn't think she wants to anyway. 

"Lex?" Turning to look at her friend, Ella is about to ask what he's doing, because she didn't hear Lex's voice at all but decides to wait until his conversation is over before questioning him.

After a moment, a triumphant smile takes over his face and Ella takes that as her cue, "What'd he say?"

"That _I'm_ about to be crowned the next Superman."

Raising an eyebrow at him, Ella turns back to face the crowd as the President starts her speech, "Yesterday, my husband said, 'Joan, why do you have to do this?' And I said, 'Because I stand with the Justice League as they have stood with us...."

The woman's speech was cut short from a portal opening directly above the crowd, humming as lightning cracked all around it. It was obvious it was time to move, get the civilian and President to safety.

Stepping forward, Wonder Woman calmly approaches the older woman, "Madam President-" only to be cut off by the Kryptonian clone darting forward and picking the President up, effectively scaring the woman. 

"I've got her everyone!"

If she could, Ella would have flown right up there and smacked him upon the head. Was he _trying_ to get on the league's bad side? 

Thankfully, the brunette was able to pull through with that wish, decking him upside the head once the President was safe in her limo.

" _Hey!"_ The ebony squeaked, hand coming up to rub the spot the magician hit, glaring at her with no real heat behind the action. 

Rolling her eyes, Ella is about to say something along the lines of "Oh please, your fine," but before she can do so, Cyborg touches down in front of the pair,

"Kid, if I find out LexCorp had anything to do with this...."

Stepping in front of the jacket-clad teen, Ella sends Vic an unimpressed look, "Alright _game boy_ , doncha think you should maybe join the fight instead of interrogating us?"

"Gemini's right," Manhunter says, morphing back into his true form, "Let's go."

With that, all 5 heroes shoot off into the sky, all in different directions. 

Eyes glowing yellow, Ella draws back her fist before driving it right into one of the creature's face. The force sends it spiraling down, but the being seems to recover before coming at her again. 

Scrunching her nose up in distaste, Ella flies right over the monster's head before spinning around and kicking her leg out; this time with enough force to send it all the way to the ground, where it makes a small crater and doesn't attempt to get back up. 

Ella's split-second celebration was enough to allow another creature to lash it claws out, striking the teen across the cheek. 

Yelping out in pain, Ella brings her hands together and blasts her opponent with pure, raw energy. It causes the rabid parademon to convulse from the electricity coursing through it. 

Keeping her hands together, Ella brings them down onto its chest sending it away as well. 

Not wasting a second this time, Ella whirls around and grabs one of the parademons shoulders. Flipping herself forward, she sends it into another creature, taking them both out. 

Keeping up with her momentum, Ella punches the next to come at her in one of their weak spots; a helpful accident since now she knew where to hit. 

Just as she was starting to get into the groove, one of the monsters was able to grab her heel and spin her around before releasing his hold, sending the poor hero flying away. 

She didn't go flying for long though, as a close-by parademon caught her, crushing her small body to its chest to the point where Ella almost can't breathe.

An angry snarl takes on the brunette's face as she flexes her hands as much as she can. It wasn't much but just enough to let the energy fly out from her body, making a bright yellow circle around her and forcing the parademon off her, simultaneously frying it at the same time. 

Just as she was about to launch herself at another creature, Ella sees a familiar figure plummet towards the ground. 

A very _small_ familiar figure, which meant they had to be younger than anyone in the league....

Eyes widening with a gasp, Ella pushes her legs back before kicking forward, leaving a small ' _boom'_ in her wake as she speeds down towards the falling boy. 

But she's too late, she didn't even spot him until he was about halfway down to the ground at _least_.

Watching in horror as his limp body drags along the cement, leaving a huge trail of broken debris behind, Ella lands soundlessly by his head.

She never seems him look so vulnerable, so young, so _un-Superman_ like. It's scary almost--logically she knows he's probably fine, he's the boy of steel after all, but how can she think _logically_ when he looks like _that_. 

Hands finding his neck, the girl is finally able to breathe again when she finds his pulse, strong, and definitely not giving up anytime soon. 

Hearing footsteps approach her, Ella looks up to see the worry-stricken face of Lois Lane. It feels like it's been forever since she's last seen the reporter when really it was just a few hours ago.

"He's fine," and ironically enough, the injured hero picks _now_ of all time to let out a pained groan, "Just-just a little roughed up."

Nodding her head sharply, Lois says, "Do you think he can stand? We can't stay here--not while the fight is this crazy."

Brushing the ebony bangs out of her friend's face, Ella mutters a quiet, "yeah" to Lois before picking the Super up, positioning his arm around her shoulder for support. 

With the injured one of their party ready to move, the three of them walk over to safety--well more like hobbled in Ella and Superboy's case--in a small crowd of civilians who hung around throughout the battle.

The emerald-eyed girl looked up just in time to see the portal that was once suspended in the air, come crashing down right onto the Justice League. 

Eyes widening comically as they disappeared, Ella somehow chocked out a broken " _No!_ " just after the portal vanished, taking the league with it.

The world was getting attacked by strange monsters, while still trying to adjust to a new Superman, someone so irreplaceable, and the Justice League vanishes.

And just like that, Gemini and Superboy are pretty much the only true heroes left to protect Metropolis. 

* * *

_"Baby, your electric love," Electric Love, Borns_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey finally a new chapter ^^ sorry I disappeared for a while, I went on vacation and then struggled a little to find the motivation to pick up writing again lmao ^^;; so it took me a few weeks, but I slowly but surely put together this chapter! Stay tuned to find out how Ella will deal with being one of the only true heroes left to protect Superman's City ;D
> 
> The image about was drawn by DonutYAASSSS
> 
> That's all I got to say, for now, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> -Kori


	5. Her Heartbeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I uh-heard your heartbeat," rubbing the back of his neck, a slight blush starts to overcome the Kryptonian's pale cheeks, "There are a few people I've taken the time to memorize the heartbeat of."
> 
> A warm feeling spread throughout the teen's chest at the knowledge that she was one of the few people who's heartbeat was recognizable to the clone.

* * *

_"Electric Love, drown me you make my heart beat like the rain"-Electric Love, Borns_

* * *

_"We're still reeling from the latest alien attack and the devastating loss of the Justice League. President Dale will speak at a memorial in Centennial Park to honor the fallen._

_"Alongside the man whose heroic actions have proven to us all that he truly_ is _Superman reborn. And let me just say, it feels good to have him back."_

"That's a load of _crap_ ," laying upside down off the side of her bed in Lois's guest room, Ella has her phone propped up on her left side, screen displaying the face of her best friend Donna, "Seriously, he does one good thing and now he's worthy of the Superman title?"

Raising her eyebrow at the brunette, Donna gives her an unimpressed look, "Oh please, El, you just want Mr. Handsome-Clone to get the title because you like him."

"I do _not_ ," ears tinting red in embarrassment Ella says, "he's a better guy than most people give him credit for."

"I'm just saying, it's not like I all of a sudden think I'm worthy of being called Wonder Woman because Dianna's disappeared," ignoring the glare she receives from her friend, the teen continues, "I think he'd make a great Super _boy_ , but he's not ready to be Super _man_."

Sighing in exasperation, Ella gives Donna a pointed look, "I thought that at first too, but right now he's the best we've got."

"Okay, Okay I believe you, just don't let his boyish charm blind you," giving Ella a teasing smile, the amazonian girl presses the back of her hand to her forehead, mimicking a love-stricken movie character. 

Laughing at the awful impression, Ella says, "You are the _worst."_

_"_ Ella!" opening the door to her guest room, Lois pokes her head in, "I'm heading over to the cemetery for a story, you'll be fine here, right?"

Waving her hand at the raven, the girl responds, "Yeah, I'll be alright Lois!"

Smiling slightly at the girl all sprawled out, the reporter quietly closes the door as she grabs her keys to head out.

Flopping down once again, after propping herself up to speak to Lois, Ella turns her attention back to the face-time call, "How's the team anyway? I bet Damian's all grumpy now that I'm gone."

Scoffing at the brunette's awful joke, the Titan responds, "You act like he's ever happy," face softening a little, her voice takes on a more serious tone, "But things have been crazy, El. I never realized how much the world relied on the Justice League, but now that they're gone...."

"I know, I know, I'll be back as soon as I can, promise," looking out the guest room window, Ella sees the clear blue sky speckled with a cloud here and there; it looks gorgeous out there, and the young hero is overcome with the need to get _out_. To clear her head of her Titan related guilt, "Just--you guys will be fine until I get back, right?"

Nodding her head, Donna gives her friend a reassuring smile, "We'll hold out, go get your man tiger."

Cheeks heating up once again, a pout overcomes the brunette's face as she mutters, " _shut up,_ " before bidding her friend farewell. 

* * *

True to her observations from inside, it was absolutely gorgeous out. Just the right weather to let Ella fly away from her Titan-sized guilt. She hadn't meant to leave them behind like she did--the Justice League disappearing was _not_ part of the plan. 

The brunette supposes that if she really wanted to, she could leave now; return to her team, _family_ , and pick up where the Justice League can't. 

But it's not that easy, the magician is _so_ close to finding out what the hell is going on here--get the information to snap her father out of his own self-pity.

It was then that the girl heard some sort of commotion from under her. Looking down, Ella spots who looks to be President Dale speaking out to a good-sized crowd. But, that's not what caught the hero's eyes; slightly behind the woman was the cyborg 'Superman'. Or as the citizens of Metropolis seem to believe, Superman reborn. 

Face scrunching in confusion, Ella starts to descend towards the ground. She feels very out of place among people in the crowd--a hero just casually standing around citizens wasn't something that happened every day. 

Fidgeting around nervously, desperately trying to ignore the curious and confused glances she was getting, Ella spots Lois and another man--Dr. Irons?--a couple hundred feet from her. 

It was now that she _really_ wished she had stopped at Lex Corp to pick up Superboy, or maybe even have asked Donna to fly over for a few hours. As much as a comfort knowing Lois is close to her was, it's not like she can actually approach the reporter as Gemini. 

"Superman?" Snapping her head up, Ella realizes that she's been spaced out, trapped in her own thoughts and worries, for so long that she's completely missed the President's whole speech.

Though it doesn't seem to be that big a deal, because what the brunette was here for was the cyborg, not Dale's inspirational speech. 

Even though the man's face was made up of what looked to be mostly metal, the haunted expression on his face was easy to make out. If he really _was_ Superman reborn, then why was he so scared of a little speech? The Clark she knew loved the public. 

"The Justice League were the best among us. As such, they would want us to celebrate today. Not mourn. Yet, here we are. Surrounded by reminders in stone of the mournful times that have befallen our world. It's only by a miracle of alien science that I am here today. Alive. Standing in for the real heroes we lost during the Doomsday battle, the Watchtower attack, and too many other bloody incursions."

Arms crossed over her chest, Ella mutters to herself softly enough so none of the civilians around her can hear, "What are you getting at...."

"Which is why today, I am announcing the establishment of a new, stronger League. A Cyber Corp, to honor those who have perished in the name of Justice, and I'm taking volunteers."

Eyes bulging out of her head, Ella clenches her fists by her side, "You have got to be kidding me."

"I volunteer."

Swiveling her head to where the call came from, Ella feels her heart drop at the declaration. She wanted so badly to crash down right in front of that man, to block him from making this huge mistake he is about to.

But, that cyborg is their Superman right now, and it's not like Ella can just speak out against him and expect everyone-- _anyone_ to be on her side. 

So, she does the only thing she can think of. 

Turning around, Ella shoots off into the sky, undoubtedly drawing the whole crowd's attention to her as she flees to the only person she wants to talk to right now; the _real_ new Superman.

* * *

Settling on the LexCorp rooftop, Ella is surprised to see Superboy sitting there already. She hadn't sent him any kind of text or heads up that she was on her way--so it must have been a coincidence, the brunette concludes. 

Landing as softly as possible, the Titan plops down right next to the Raven and is immediately taken back to the night of the fire; the last time they had patrolled together. 

Ella hadn't realized how much she missed this; just gazing over the bright, loud city with Superboy by her side. They've both been so busy lately that the brunette forgot how nice it was to just take a second to relax. 

The pair was quiet for a few mere moments before the teen next to Ella took a deep breath in, eyes trailing over the City below them, "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

A small smile takes over the french girl's face as she says, "Nelson Mandela?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the boy's mood turns a little bashful, as if slightly embarrassed, "I saw you on the news. Thought you could use a pick-me-up."

Eye softening, Ella lets a small " _huh"_ escape her lips. This boy just kept surprising her, "Never took you for a history buff."

"What can I say? I'm wise beyond my years," arms spreading out in front of him, the boy gestures to the open skyline to exaggerate his point further.

"How did you know I was coming _here_ anyway?" Because if he was just watching the news, then there was no way him being up here when she arrived was a coincidence.

"I uh-heard your heartbeat," rubbing the back of his neck, a slight blush starts to overcome the Kryptonian's pale cheeks, "There are a few people I've taken the time to memorize the heartbeat of."

A warm feeling spread throughout the teen's chest at the knowledge that she was one of the few people who's heartbeat was recognizable to the clone. 

The pair was quiet for a few minutes, both content to just take in the beautiful sight before them. Both teens have a lot on their minds; things they're not exactly ready to share yet. 

Spreading her legs out in front of her, Ella allows them to dangle off the rooftop much like how the jacket-clad boy's next to her are doing, "I like Conner, y'know."

Shifting to look at the girl next to him, Superboy brushes a hand through his messy ebony hair as he says, "What?"

"Conner. It's cute, flowy, not too dramatic," letting her eyes wash over the confused boy next to her, Ella tilts her head in mock thought, "Maybe a bit too long though, I think Kon would suit you better."

A look of realization dawns on Superboy's face as he asks, "Does this _Kon_ get a last name?"

Thinking of Clark, Ella lets a fond smile pull at her lips. She knew she shouldn't be the one to give Conner his last name--no, that was up to Lois to do, "He will."

Ignoring the return of Conner's confused, and slightly disappointed this time, expression, the young girl pops up to her feet before extending her hand out to him once more, "Let's head inside, _Kon_ , it's starting to get kinda cold."

Connecting their hands, a sly smile creeps up the boy's face, "Sure thing, _Ellie_."

With a loud, overdramatic, groan of disapproval at the nickname, Ella sulks the whole way back into the tower with a cackling clone trailing behind her. 

* * *

Upon entering the LexCorp 'living room', Ella notices the huge dip Conner's mood suddenly takes. His laughter dies down, and he shoves his balled-up fists into the pockets of his leather jacket. It's then that Ella realizes that conversation on the rooftop was an escape for him--something was bothering the young clone and he didn't know what to do so he just _didn't_ do anything. 

He's stalling; trying not to face whatever is bothering him and instead preoccupy his mind with other things. Not that Ella blames him for this though, she still hasn't told anyone the real reason she's here either. 

But.....maybe it's time to confide in someone?

Striding over to one of the more comfortable looking benches in the room, Ella gestures for Conner to sit beside her. She wanted to tell him everything, but it was like the words were stuck in her throat. 

She's never actually had to _tell_ someone about her home life; Kory and Dick already knew when she was dropped off at the tower, and the rest of the team knew better than to ask, they had their own issues to deal with. 

And saying it out loud would make it all _that_ much more real; it would be the final push to set in stone how her family treated her, and Ella didn't know if she was ready for that. 

But, would she ever be? How do you even come to terms with, and be _okay_ with having a bad home life? Is that even something you _can_ do?

So, taking a deep steadying breath, Ella locks her eyes on one specific building; it has a small antenna sticking out from its roof, a perfect point to glue her gaze onto, "I didn't just come here because I thought the new Superman drama was interesting, y'know," Ignoring the curious ice-blue eyes settling on her, the girl continues,

"I-I wanted, no _needed_ answers about Superman's death. I'm not here for me, I'm here for my Father," Ella hadn't even realized she'd begun crying until she was gasping around a sob, desperately trying to keep them at bay, "And I don't even know _why_. I'm not--I don't even live with my family anymore and yet I _still_ feel the need to do things for them.

"I-I don't--they just _left_ me with the Titans, yet here I am," laughing humorlessly, Ella takes a moment to compose herself, "My Dad neglects me, and I still love him."

Two strong arms suddenly take the girl into their hold, clutching her close to Conner's chest, "Lex wanted to get rid of Superboy for good, apparently," nuzzling his nose into the soft brown hair of his friend, Conner continues, "I don't know what changed his mind but...."

Detaching himself from the girl, Conner stands up only to spread his arms out once again; an invitation to continue their embrace, "To messed up families?"

Smushing herself to his chest, laying her head on his shoulder, and soaking up all the comfort his hold gives her, Ella says, "To messed up families."

The embrace was unsurprisingly comforting. Ella doesn't think they've ever really hugged, or touched each other much in general, before. But, the heat radiating off Conner's body, and the iron-like grip his arms have on her back is enough to make the crying hero crumble in his arms. 

She's pretty sure she had read somewhere, or maybe Clark had told her, that Kryptonian's natural body heat settled just above the human's. Ella doesn't remember the exact degree, but that doesn't bother the brunette as she soaks up the blanket of heat that is her friend.

"Oh, am I...interupting something?" Lifting her head from its comfortable spot on Kon's shoulder, Ella's eyes catch Lois standing a few feet behind them, a somewhat smug smirk on her face. 

Detaching herself from the Kryptonian's arms, Ella hastily scrubs at her eyes to dry them of the stray tears slipping out before saying, "No we're just waiting for Lex to show."

The young hero hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath until a relieved sigh escaped her lips when Lois merely raised her eyebrow at her, a clear, _'I don't believe you one bit,'_ but didn't say anything else on the matter. 

"Lookin' for the ol' cue ball. Know where he is, Superboy?"

"Don't call me that!" Crossing his arms in a huff, Conner's face turns into a scowl as he looked anywhere but the concerned faces of Lois and Ella.

Looking to the younger girl next to her, the reporter shot her a questioning glare. Simply shrugging her shoulder's in response, Ella gestures with her hand for Lois to go talk to the raven. 

She knew that the older woman wasn't good with children yet, but Conner seemed to really need someone to talk to, and Ella wasn't the only person he was allowed to confide in. 

So, Ella sat a few seats down from the two as they talked; close enough to hear what they're saying, but far enough away to give them a little space. 

"What's wrong?"

Heaving in a deep breath, Conner keeps his eyes trained on the floor, "He's my Father. At least, he's half my DNA. I just found out."

"Nah, I don't buy it. I mean, the hair alone." Tilting his head up to meet his blue eyes to Lois's own, the Daily Planet reporter's eyes widened at the resemblance he showed to Clark, "Wow. You do look like him. Superman, I mean."

Ella was confused for a moment until it all clicked; Conner _knew_ he was Superman's son, he _knew_ he was a clone, so what did he just find out? 

I mean, really, it was right in front of her face the whole time. Every time she looked into those pale blue eyes she didn't see Clark's, no, his were much deeper and richer in color. 

She was looking at Lex Luthor's eyes. 

"Look, I was a jerk when I met you, Lois. I'm sorry," confusion momentarily morphed onto the boy's face, "I don't know why, but I feel like I can talk to you."

Turning her head away from the hero, Lois says softly under her breath, "I know why."

Their conversation is cut short when Lois's phone starts to go off. Standing up from her seat slightly away from the raven's, Ella comes to stand behind the two because hey, she's a curious kid. 

Answering the phone with a quick, "Yeah." Ella and Conner share a confused look. Neither teen had been able to sneak a glance at who was calling before Lois stood up and walked away from them. 

Stealing Lois's previous seat, Ella crosses one of her legs over the other as she listens intently to what the woman is saying. Though, she can't hear whoever is on the other side so her attempt to find out what was going on proved futile. 

Twirling her hair between her fingers absentmindedly, Ella waits until Lois hangs up the phone before asking, "Who was it?"

Lips quirking up in a small amused smile at how nosey the young girl was, Lois puts her hands on her hips as she gives both teens a serious look, "Steel's found the Eradicator." 

Eye's meeting Conner's in a concerned gaze, an uneasy feeling makes itself known in Ella's stomach, perfectly matching the tense air in the room at Lois's reveal.

* * *

"It's really pretty out there," Conner says, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, gaze settled on the skyscrapers and streets of Metropolis. 

They had gotten tired of sitting around after a short bit and migrated towards the big glass siding of the LexCorp building. As much as Ella hates Lex, she has to admit, his building has one of the best views of the city she's seen. 

Humming in agreement, Ella crosses her arms over her chest, "It reminds me of Jump City."

Standing off to the side from the two conversing heroes, Lois watches them with a soft smile on her face. Ever since she found out that Conner was Clark's kid, she's had this motherly instinct awakened in her that she wasn't even aware she possessed. 

Ella seemed to bring out the best in him from what she's seen, and the reporter is still trying to figure out why she feels equal parts protective and happy for Kon when she sees the duo together. 

Phone buzzing in her jean pocket, Lois fishes it out and answers it once again only to hear what sounds like a duel to the death, "Woah, Steel! What's happening?"

Head quirking up at the outburst, Ella rushes to the ebony's side standing between Conner and Lois to hear what's going on, " _Little busy here, Lois._ "

"You called me!"

_"Sorry. Butt dial."_

A cry of pain carries over the phone line from Steel as whoever he is dueling, the Eradicator Ella guesses, strikes him down. The girl is sure the fight isn't as bad as it sounds, but not being able to see anything and only hearing the pain-filled cries from the iron Superman make Ella's chest fill with worry. 

"What the hell is going on, here?" reaching right over Ella's head, Lex snatches Lois's phone, "Give me that."

Watching as Lois tries to wrestle her phone back from Lex's grip, Ella falls into step with Conner as they both follow the older pair to Lex's desk, "How nice of him to finally grace us with his presence."

Pulling up Lois's phone screen, Lex is finally able to give everyone in the room a visual of what's happening to Steel. All four of them are soon crowded around the desk as Lex asks, "Is that--"

"Kal-El's ship! In S.T.A.R. Labs."

Turning to face Lex, Conner has a determined look on his face that reminds Ella of Clark so much it almost makes her gasp out loud, "He needs help. I'm going."

Catching the boy's arm, Lex's voice is firm and commanding as if daring Superboy to disobey him, "No. These cyborg thingies are popping up all over the city. It's gonna take a turn and I need you here."

Face tilted up to meet Luthor's eyes with a look of disgust and distrust, Conner bites out, "Your not the boss of me, Lex."

"I literally am." Poking his finger right at the LexCorp patch, Lex turns back around to settle his focus back on the battle playing out. 

Arms clutched around Steel's staff in an iron grip, the Eradicator's voice is steady and strong as if he's not fighting with another Superman as he says, "You cannot harm the data matrix."

"The data matrix?" rushing over to her phone, Lois calls out, "John! It's a hologram! It's designed to protect Kryptonians."

At the revelation, Ella crosses her arms in distaste as she mutters, "Sure didn't hit like a hologram," at the same time John said, _"I don't see any Kryptonians around here. Do you?"_

A look of horror and hope takes over Lois's face as she can barely form a sentence in her own disbelief, "Oh my god, John, he's..."

But before the woman could finish the screen suddenly cuts out, static filling the T.V instead of Steel's fight with the Eradicator. 

Wincing slightly as the harsh sound hits his sensitive ears, Conner rips off his LexCorp patch as Ella watches, a proud smile taking over her face.

Determination shinning in his eyes, Superboy tugs gently on the magician's arm as he says, "C'mon he needs us," before rushing out of the room without even checking to see if Ella was coming. 

Not wasting a second, not even to steal a glance at Lois and Lex before she left, Ella shot off into the cool night air after Superboy, gone in the blink of an eye.

* * *

_"Surround me, hold me deep beneath your waves."-Electric Love, Burns_

* * *

**A/N:**

**Heyo! Finally updated again LOL xD Sorry it takes me so long to upload every new chapter lol ^^;; It takes me around two weeks total for every new chapter I'd say?--Sheesh,,,I gotta fix that xD**

**But yeah, Kon finally gets his name! Well-- _half_ of it anyways. I was going to wait until the end of the 'Reign of the Superman' segment of this book before giving him the name, but then I was like--no no, he can have his first name, and then Clark gives him his last name because he is a good dad in my universe xD we do not claim YJ Superman around here, so siree. **

**I don't really have much else to say here though, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I tried to give El and Kon some more alone time here lol, I hope it worked out okay?**

**The artwork above was drawn by**[mindyourfingers](https://www.deviantart.com/mindyourfingers) **NOT me!!**

**-Kori**


	6. And Get the Girl (Slash Girls)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipping his head slightly to deepen the kiss, Conner can't help but notice how nice Ella's lips taste. It's a unique yet perfect mix of strawberry and vanilla, and the young clone doesn't think he'll ever tire of that taste on his lips. 
> 
> Pulling away, Ella lets her lips hover over Conner's for a second, not yet willing to peel open her eyes and let the moment truly end.

* * *

_"And every night my mind is running around her"-Electric Love, Borns_

* * *

"You said you knew Superman before, right?"

Shifting her gaze to the raven next to her, Ella feels a shiver go down her spine. They're in the arctic and her costume has no sleaves, not one of her brightest moments if she was being honest. "What's it to ya?"

She might have been imagining it, but Ella could have sworn that Conner slowed down slightly, now trailing just behind her instead of in front, "So you know what he's like?"

Realization donned on the Titan as if she were just struck by a train; he was _nervous._ It was slightly embarrassing that it took her so long to pick up on, but how many times had the boy openly expressed any other emotion besides confidence?

Touching down in the soft, but _painfully cold_ snow, Ella wrapped her arms around herself, careful to hide the tremors wracking her body, "No no, we're not doing this."

"What do you mean 'we're not doing this?'" Landing a little harsher than necessary, nerves messing with the control he has of his strength, Conner mirrors her stance, obviously not picking up that it's to trap what little body heat she has left close to her.

" _This,_ " gesturing between herself and the teen in front of her, Ella says, "The whole 'am I good enough' rant."

"Well, what if I'm not!"

"But what if you _are_?" Ella fires back, taking a moment to calm herself down, "What can you really lose, Kon?"

Averting his gaze, the Kryptonian hero scowls at the ground, as if the fluffy white snow sprinkled down was responsible for his dilemma. 

Smiling in victory, Ella makes the mistake of uncrossing her arms, opting to rest them on her hips instead. The second all her body heat is able to escape, the brunette feels a violent shiver come over her, rattling her teeth and sending goosebumps down her arms. 

"Are you cold?" Superboy asks, already shrugging off his jacket. 

It's apparent that he's not looking for an answer as he proceeds to drape it over the magician's shoulders, squeezing them slightly as if apologizing for not noticing sooner. 

Deciding it's not worth arguing over, Ella slides her arms through the opening in the jacket and pulls it close to her. It's a bit big, but she's always been a sucker for baggy clothes, "Will you be alright?"

Waving her concern off with a loud _"Pshh"_ the hero turns around, starting the short walk to the entrance of the fortress, "I'll be fine, as a matter of fact, I happen to _love_ the cold."

Catching up to the teen, Ella lets a playful smirk creep up her face, "Is it even cold out to you?"

The smug smile she got in return was answer enough for the brunette. 

* * *

The treck through the crystal fortress was, for the most part, silent. Ella could hear the faint sound of murmuring from somewhere a bit farther down, but with his superhearing, Ella was sure Conner was listening to the full conversation without a problem. 

Trailing her fingers gently, barely ghosting over them, along the bright crystals, Ella couldn't help but be in awe of this place. If Lois was right, then Clark was here, but where _was_ here exactly? What was this place?

Her train of thought was cut short when she was finally close enough to hear the once quiet and far away voices loud and clear, "These broadcasts have brought me up to speed. Darkseid killed my friends, and people are being turned into monsters by that Cyborg imposter."

"Hank Henshaw."

"The astronaut? I thought he was dead. I guess I _didn't_ know everything."

"There's a lot of that goin' around," Leaning against one of the crystal structures, trying his best to look as nonchalant as possible, though he wasn't fooling Ella, Superboy pushes off the wall with his foot, placing his hands on his hips, "So, what's the plan, _Dad_?"

Raising his brow in confusion, one might have assumed that Clark was appalled by this striking information, but Ella knew him better than most people, and if the sparkle of amazement in the man's eyes was anything to go by, Ella would strongly disagree that no, he was most certainly not appalled one bit. 

Blue eyes drifting to Ella's green, Clark's face turns even more confused, if that was even possible, "What-"

"Later." Hopping down from her elevated position, Ella forces herself not to all but launch right into the man of steel's chest, now was not the time for sappy reunions. "What we really need, right now, is a plan."

"Right," Turning around to the control center behind him, the Kryptonian gazes at all the guns lined up, "The plan is to stop Darkseid, and save Henshaw."

"And get the girl." Nudging Ella's side with his elbow, Conner adds, as if an afterthought, "Slash girls."

Though the unimpressed glare he received from said brunette shut him down right there. 

"Until your regeneration is complete, I must insist you abstain from sexual activity."

Covering her mouth with her hands, small giggles can't help but escape Ella at Clark's obvious uncomfortable expression, "Um, all right?"

"Your not fully powered yet, are you?" Steel asks, speaking up for the first time since Ella and Conner arrived. 

Looking down, almost in shame, the de-powered man of steel stayed silent. Though, his lack of response is a more than clear answer. 

Pursing her lips, Ella lets her shoulder slump slightly as she asks, "For how long?"

"I don't know." Clenching his fists, Clark keeps his eyes trained on the floor, "Maybe forever."

"Powers or _not_ , we have to get to Metropolis." Pacing a few steps forward, Ella locks eyes with Clark once again, face softening a bit, "You said so yourself, it's a mess down there."

"Kal-El, I must insist on accompanying you."

"Bad idea," Looking over to Steel, it's blatantly obvious how wary he is around the hologram, even with his helmet on, "This guy's a wild card."

Plucking one of the many small crystals by his side, Clark looks up with the same determination glinting in his eyes that Ella swore she saw in Conner's not long ago, "Maybe a wild card is what we need."

"What we need is a way to get you to Metropolis." Coming to stand up beside her, Ella is almost sure she can hear Conner's heart racing from where she is, "it's 40 below outside, and you're just a guy now."

Turning his head to look at the same ship he just emerged from not long ago, Clark replies, "A guy with a space ship."

Watching as Clark climbs into his ship once more, Ella feels a hand brush against her's. Out of the corner of her eye she sees that it's Superboy, though she's not sure if the brush was on purpose, or accidental. Though, she's not allowed much time to ponder on this as the whole fortress begins to shake from the force of opening up at the top. 

Flashing Kon one last toothy grin, Ella shoots up in the air, for once welcoming the chill nipping at her cheeks. She can feel Steel and Superboy behind her, but she opts to keep her gaze on Clark and his ship. 

That was until she heard Superboy's " _Slammin'!_ " I mean, could you blame her for losing it at that?

Grabbing the Titan's waist, scared she'll fall out of the sky from laughing, Superboy flips them around so that Ella is facing him, arms around his neck to ensure she wouldn't slip (as if he'd ever let her fall). 

Quirking an eyebrow down at her, confusion evident on his face, the now jacket-less super asks, "Do people not say that anymore?"

Pushing away from the ridiculous teen, Ella pulls at the ends of his jacket still around her. She'd been distracted from how ungodly cold it was for a little while, but now that the wind is seeping through all her clothes, she's seriously regretting leaving the warm Kryptonian's hold. 

"Guys, I'm getting an incoming call from a LexCorp number. Could be Lois. I'm bouncing it over"

Watching as the call connects, Ella doesn't see the face of Lois appear, no, she sees the face of Lex Luthor himself. And if the brunette had to guess, he wasn't calling to talk to the newly alive Superman.

Face taking on a look of surprise so subtly that if Ella wasn't paying close attention she would have missed it, Lex recovers from his momentary shock, _"Oh! It's you."_

Distaste evident in his voice, Clark glares down at the small screen, "Lex Luthor. As I live and Breathe."

_"Yeah, what's that about?"_

"Where's Lois?" Ella smiled slightly at the protectiveness of his voice, she knew Lois would be one of the first people he wanted to see; even more so now that he knows she's been around LexCorp. 

_"As much as I'd love to chat, I'm only calling to ask sonny boy if he wouldn't mind popping by for a stretch. I'm downtown in the thick of it, and, well I could use some muscle."_

Eyes narrowing down at the screen dangerously, Ella is about to spit out some snarky comment that she's sure Clark will reprimand her for later, but a certain super beats her to it, "The boy stays with _me,_ and I need to know now that Lois is all right."

_"Oh, she's fine. She's in the watchtower."_

If Superman's heat vision was working right now, Ella is almost certain he would have tried to fry Lex through the screen, _"What?"_

Accelerating ahead, the three heroes in the air are left to scramble after the man of steel. Though, their paths quickly change, seeing as though they're more needed on the ground, where the hundreds of civilian 'heroes' are raining havoc on Metropolis still. 

Spotting Lex crouched down by a limo, the trio land soundlessly behind the three black and red costume-clad villains, each hero ready to take one out. Eyes glowing yellow, Ella rests both hands on her hips as Steel calls out, "Excuse me. Mind if we kick your ass?"

Taking that as her cue, Ella dashes forward, punching the enemy directly in front of her, joining the mad brawl unfolding all around her. 

Not missing a beat once her first opponent was down, Ella whips around kicking her leg out, yellow energy following the swipe as her fist connects with another's face. 

Hearing something land behind her, Ella is able to turn just in time for white-hot searing pain to overcome her face. Regaining her senses quickly, Ella stomps her leg out on the concrete, letting her yellow energy creep in all the crack and imperfections made by the other fights waging on. Lifting her hand, the energy follows the silent command and climbs up the man, shocking him to unconsciousness. 

Smirking to herself, Ella whips around and kicks the legs out from under the next closest enemy, grabbing their hand as they fall to plow them into another oncoming target. 

Taking this small relief to her advantage, Ella takes to the sky to check on Steel and Superboy. They both seem to be doing good, though Superboy seems to be taking a lot of hits to the back. That's just inexperience though, something that will be easily fixed over time. 

The wind is then knocked out of the girl when she's suddenly tackled out of the sky by one of the cyborg's minions. Not having any time to switch their positions, or try to get the person off her, Ella feels her back sink into the ground painfully. 

Grunting out, Ella creates a small yellow bubble shield around herself, forcing the attacker off her and allowing her to catch the breath that was just forced from her lungs.

Sitting up slowly, Ella lets the shield drop as she moves to take out another minion, "How many of you people did he fool!"

Watching as one of the rabid mind-controlled civilians started to go after some of the innocent bystanders trying to protect their city, Ella pounces on them, kicking one down, punching another, and shooting an energy orb at the last. 

It felt like there was an endless sea of these things; the second she got one off her another two were in their place.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Ella backhands one of the villains just as another grabbed her from behind. Head budding the person holding her to their chest, Ella throws them over her shoulder and into another oncoming one. 

Hand glowing yellow, Ella lets a stream of energy leave her palms in a strong ray, taking out a whole cluster of the 'heroes' at once. 

Looking to her left, Ella realizes that she's somehow gravitated to where both Steel and Superboy are fighting. Heaving in a deep breath, the magician listens as Steel yells, "This is nuts! We should be in there helping Superman."

Hovering next to her, Superboy looks down at Steel as he says, "If you can find a way past these guys, I'm right behind you."

Just when he finished talking, another crowd of costume-clad civilians surrounded them. Putting her hands up in preparation to fight, Ella calls down without even sparing either male a glance, "And _please_ find one soon," before rushing back into the fight. 

The brunette hero is only able to take out a few more of the enslaved civilians before an eerily familiar portal opens up above her. 

Swinging her arms out to either side, Ella lets a blast of energy go, giving her some breathing room as she mutters to herself, "What the hell..."

And the Titan thinks she might just cry of happiness when she sees the familiar black cape of Batman come flying out. Finally, something was going their way for once. 

Running over to the small cluster of Leaguers, Ella is able to catch the confused remarks from Hal, "Robo people? Come on! How long were we gone?"

"Too long," standing slightly in front of the group, Ella lets her eyes wash over each hero. They're here, she's not having some weird fever dream from over exhausting herself, they're really here. 

"Hey, kid-" The Flash starts, only to be interrupted by Lex, who comes to stand directly behind Ella, making the young girl a bit uneasy.

"Finally!"

Disbelief marrying his face, Cyborg takes a few paces towards the pair, "Luthor? You brought us back?"

Quick to come back with a snappy reply, Luthor hisses out, "Don't add me to your friend's list yet. This was purely a business move. Get to work!"

Not that Ella was ever one to listen to the command of Lex Luthor, but at his words she takes off into the sky again, bulldozing into a dozen mindless opponents. 

She couldn't just stand around and marvel at the newly returned Justice League all day, she might hate Lex with all her heart, but he was no idiot. It was time to get back to work, time to try and get the city back under control once more. 

Her heart was racing so fast that Ella could swear she could hear the blood pumping in her ears. She didn't have much time to worry about that though, seeing as she was barely allowed a moment to breathe in the midst of this battle. 

Grabbing on to the fabric of the closest person to her, Ella swings them around, roughly tossing them into a crowd of their fellow 'teammates'. 

It felt like she was moving in slow motion. Bending backward to avoid a hit, matrix-style Ella thinks with a smile, she springs back up fists and eyes glowing as she shoots two of the enslaved civilians with an energy orb from either hand. 

Keeping up with her momentum, Ella brings up a small wall of energy, knocking out a few of the enemies from the sheer force of them smacking into it. 

Fur skirt swinging along with her movement, the magician jumps up, moving into a backflip of sorts as she takes out the man that was behind her with an energy blast, mid-air. 

Landing in a crouched position, Ella is about to stand up and keep fighting when suddenly all the volunteer 'heroes' just....drop. 

It's like they all ran out of juice at the same time, and collapsed from exhaustion, though Ella suspects that's not why they're down. 

Looking around wildly to figure out what was going on, she spots Steel, Superboy, and a man she didn't recognize all standing together, looking somber.

That's when she knew, these people didn't just collapse, they had died. 

Making her way to the small group, the young hero stands beside Superboy, leaning against him for support. Now that all the adrenaline was wearing off, she was just now feeling all the aches and pains in her bones, not to mention the slight exhaustion hanging over her. 

Messing with the zipper on the jacket she had forgotten she was still wearing, Ella looks up at Conner, "Is it over?"

"Not yet," a soft smile was on his face, pale blue eyes sparkling with hope and sorrow all the same, "Still haven't gotten the girl."

With that, Ella felt two hands snake around her waist pulling her towards the Kryptonian, making their lips smash together. 

A small yelp of surprise leaves the girl's lips, but soon she finds herself sinking into the kiss, one hand cradling the boy's cheek, while the other gets lost in his hair. 

Dipping his head slightly to deepen the kiss, Conner can't help but notice how nice Ella's lips taste. It's a unique yet perfect mix of strawberry and vanilla, and the young clone doesn't think he'll ever tire of that taste on his lips. 

Pulling away, Ella lets her lips hover over Conner's for a second, not yet willing to peel open her eyes and let the moment truly end. 

After a few minutes, the pair fully pull back, and Ella can once again see Conner's full face. Before, when there were sorrow and hope filling those ice-blue eyes, Ella now saw love and affection. A beautiful combination that kept her entranced and in awe. 

Messing with the hair at the nape of his neck, a playful smile dances on her lips, "Can I keep your jacket then?"

With a roll of his eyes and a small chuckle, their lips were once again connected. 

* * *

_"Six months and 400 miles later, a happy return for one of_ _Daily Planet's own. Clark Kent, feared lost in the Doomsday fight, is back home tonight. Thanks to the Keen eye of another Metropolis citizen We thought we'd lost."_

_"I recognized Mr. Kent from his byline photo and brought him home."_

"Martian Manhunter sounds nothing like me," Clark wined, carrying a box of his packed up belongings as he passed the playing TV. 

The Kents were moving into a new apartment today. One suit to fit not only Clark and Lois but also their newest family member. 

Once Clark had finally gotten out of space and talked to his son one on one, he immediately knew he loved the kid, DNA be damned. He'd actually given the offer of living with himself and Lois before talking to the woman, thankfully though Lois ended up falling in love with her sorta-son just as fast, maybe even quicker than Clark.

So here they are today, the Kents finally moving in; with some help from Ella. 

"Oh, everybody says that," Lois snapped back from somewhere down the hall where she had disappeared to not long ago. 

Mischievous smirk making itself present on his face, Conner turns to his Father, "I don't know, I thought he was pretty spot on there."

Playfully glaring at his son, Clark turns his gaze to Ella, a pleading look now taking over his features, "C'mon El, you wouldn't turn on me right?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Ella heaves up a box full of Conner's stuff, intent on making her way down the same hall Lois was down, "Sorry Clark, I thought the awkwardness was pretty spot on."

Mock betrayal washing over the man's face as he sulks, "Why must you all always attack me?"

Before anyone else could say anything, the raven's communicator started buzzing in his ear. With an apologetic smile to both teen's he answers, "Yeah?"

_"Your late."_

"Right," with a disappointing sigh he continues, "Be there in a sec."

_"Oh, tell Lois I'll see her Friday."_

Walking into the room, having heard the communicator go off, Lois stands next to Conner, hand resting on the boy's shoulder. 

Looking up at Lois, Clark raises an eyebrow at her, "Friday?"

"What is it?"

"Worlds colliding," Moving towards the trio, Clark's eye briefly flicker over to his son, "Also, I have to go."

"It's okay. I understand," ruffling the teen's hair next to her, Lois's eyes have this sort of affection in them that always makes Clark smile, "We'll wait up."

Throwing one last smile to the small group, Clark is out of the house before any of them can blink. 

Looking around the box-filled living room, Ella hoists up the items in her hand before beckoning Conner to follow her with a nod of her head, "C'mon, for a boy who was almost never home, you have an absurd amount of belongings."

Easily picking up twice as much stuff as Ella could, Conner snaps back with, "I do not!" yet there was no heat behind the exclamation. 

With a laugh, the two teens made it to the super son's new room, ready to decorate and unpack. 

* * *

_"Thunders getting louder and louder and louder"-Electric Love, Borns"_

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey guys! So yes, reign of supermen is done for this book, but there are still more chapters to come! I'm planning on doing a few filler chapters, a few glances into the missing two years before I start on Apokolips war!**

**Also yes--I did change the restaurant scene between Lois and Clark to this because I want Kon to live with them, not Ma and Pa Kent!~ I personally hc that Lois and Clark see Kon as their son, and treat him as such.**

**I don't have much to say here though, I hope you enjoy this 'ending'**

**-Kori**


	7. Attack On Titans Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Punching the creature he was fighting with, Conner's panicked blue eyes desperately meet Ella's own, "There's too many of them we're not gonna-"
> 
> Commanding the energy inside the paradoom coming towards her, Ella forces it out of the monster, tearing it apart in the process, "I know."

* * *

_"Baby you're like lightning in a bottle"-Electric Love, Burns_

* * *

_"Thank you for responding so quickly. Some of you already know what this is about, but I wanted to get the new members up to speed."_

Glaring at the ridiculously large screen in front of her, Ella listens intently to what Clark is saying. She doesn't _have_ to listen per se, the Titans had been told their part in this plan already, but the fate of the world is on their shoulders, a little refresher wouldn't hurt. 

_"This is Apokolips, homeworld of Darkseid, a power-mad despot who has orchestrated two attempted invasions of Earth, the first of which resulted in the formation of the Justice League._

_"The second one, an attack from within our ranks, by Cyborg Superman and his cyber force."_

A ghost of a smile hovers over Ella's lips at the mention of her time in Metropolis, her first few days with Conner. Feeling a hand grip her own, Ella knows the raven is reminiscing in those times too. 

Pressing a hand to her forehead, Raven moans in pain. A wave of concern washes over Ella for the girl, she's been getting weaker and weaker every day. 

But, that concern is quickly brushed off, the empath seems to already have someone looking out for her, "Raven, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing." A blatant lie, but no one calls her out on it. 

_"This image was taken by surveillance ten hours ago on the edge of the solar system."_

_"Apokolips phased into our dimension and released stealth drones, then phased out again."_

_"This can only be looked at as a prelude to war. Darkseid aims to conquer the Earth and crush it under his heel."_

Ella had...issue's with Clark's plan. In fact, pretty much everyone does. Damian, in particular, was not shy about voicing his many objections. Ella, unfortunately, was for the most part on the receiving end of these rants, seeing as though Dick had tried to shut the bat down every time it was brought up to him. 

_"Look, I know the guy's a genocidal maniac, but are we sure those are his immediate plans? Or something he'll try in like a thousand years?"_

The screen had changed to horrific images of the many planets Darkseid had been able to conquer. Almost nothing remained, only ash, blood, and rubble. 

_"These are images from the worlds that Darkseid has conquered. Our intel shows that he's now sent his elite guard and the Furies to act as an occupying force to thwart any resistance."_

When the Titans were informed of their role in the man of steel's plan, there had been no pictures. So to look at the images displayed in front of her, pictures of war, destruction, and defeat, made Ella's knees weak and stomach churn. 

_"I want to make this perfectly clear. We are facing an existential threat to the planet. We can't wait for Darkseid to make the first move. That could mean the end of us._

_"We_ have _to attack."_

Making a somewhat sour face, Ella grips at Conner's hand a bit tighter. As much as she hated to admit it, she was worried. Her father was a part of the League, a part of the team rushing in to attack. 

He was horrible to her, always pushing her aside as if she meant nothing. And for a while, she believed that. 

So why now does she all of a sudden care? 

_"That's a tough job. Aside from the big bad, this place is jam-packed with those Parademons."_

_"The League's faced them before. We know these are their weak spots."_ A large picture of a Parademon popped up behind Batman, demonstrating the founder's point. 

_"With our combined forces, we can cut through them. Then, I'll do what needs to be done."_

_"This is madness. There's always a deal to be made. Let's at least send an envoy to Apokolips."_

And Ella was inclined to agree with Lex, something she doesn't do often. 

_"No!"_ Smashing the counter next to him, Clark takes a moment to gather himself a bit before biting out, _"Darkseid created a monster that nearly killed me. What chance would humanity have? Our only option is to destroy him."_

An uneasy feeling made its way into all the hero's stomachs. It was clear that Clark was overly emotional, not seeing every side of all the dangers his plan brings. 

_"That means Earth could be ground zero in a world war. Look, I know some of you don't believe the visions I had about the Flashpoint, but....a truly global war means death and destruction on a scale you cannot imagine. Everyone on the planet is at risk, everyone we care about."_

Ella believed him. Flash wasn't the kind of guy who would lie about something as awful as the Flashpoint was. As much of a jokester as he is, the man is scarily protective of those he loves. 

_"Flash is right. Sure, the guy deserves killing, but you can't kick this hornet's nest like everyone on Earth is bulletproof."_

_"Look, I won't ask you to give anything more than I do. But this isn't up for discussion. We're going to stop Darkseid once and for all._

_"Here's how we do it."_

Stepping up next to the man of steel, Diana continues his train of thought, _"The main team will attack through this entryway on Apokolips. Members of the Titans shall remain of Earth as a home guard. With the Furies and his elite guard of-world, and only Parademons to guard him, Darkseid will be vulnerable to attack,"_ Determination setting on her face, the amazon disconnects the call with a simple, _"May the gods be with us all."_

Turning around to face the group of teens, Kory levels them all with a stern look, "You heard her Titans, we have a job to do."

* * *

Sitting on the roof, Ella lazily drags her fingers over her fur skirt. She and Kon had been stationed up there, tasked with watching over the city, much like what her other teammates were doing. 

The way Wonder Woman had put their mission had sounded much more...thrilling. When In reality, all the team was doing was sulking in worry and sightseeing over Jump City. 

"How are you holding up?" Glancing at the boy next to her, Ella realizes he must have taken her silence as a bad thing. But, to give him credit, he's not exactly wrong with that assumption. 

Fisting her skirt in her hands, Ella keeps her eyes trained on her lap "I'm worried...for my father."

"Your father? The-"

"How many fathers do you think I have?" Snapping at her boyfriend, Ella's expression instantly crumbles as soon as the snark escapes her, "I don't know why I'm worried. He doesn't care about me, so why must I care for him?"

Placing a hand on her knee, Conner locks his gaze on the brunette, even as she refuses to look at him, "He does," glancing up at the ebony in confusion, Ella finally meets his eyes, "He just can't show it."

Scoffing at the words, Ella wraps her arms around herself, "What a Dad he is then."

Rather than responding to the girl, Conner opts to simply embrace her. It's a bit awkward at first, each party a little tense and unsure, but soon enough Ella leans into the hug, resting against the infamous 'S' insignia. 

And things are quiet for a while, both teens content to sit just the way they are, in comfortable silence. They don't need to talk, they know very well what's going on in the other's head without words having to carry the message. 

Then a boom tube opened up above their heads. 

At first, they thought it was the Justice League, back to deliver the good news that Darkseid is dead, that they did it. But, the animalistic roars filling the air begged to differ. 

Scrambling up, in a mad haste to get out from under the portal, Ella presses a hand to her ear yelling, " _Kory!_ Get ready to fight the-" only to be cut off by a large body slamming into her, tackling her off the roof. 

Choking as all the air is forced from her lungs, Ella throws her arms out, heaving the large being over her shoulder before stopping her quick descend, flying back up towards the roof.

Only she never makes it there. Once she's gotten one of the paradooms off her, five more swarmed back to replace it. Eyes glowing yellow, Ella charges up both her hands, preparing to strike in the weak spots batman had pointed out earlier.

But these creatures are _not_ the ones she had seen on the screen this morning.

Taking the teen's momentary hesitation to their advantage, a claw strikes out, sending Ella flying down once more. But this time the girl is too disoriented to save herself. 

So, instead of a nice graceful landing, Ella crashed down into the concrete, making a concerningly large crater around herself on impact. 

Crying out in pain, Ella shoots her arms up over her, making an ex above her chest. Following her command, a yellow bubble shield makes its way around the girl. 

Only, the thing trying to get to her sounds a little too familiar and _human_ to be an attacker. Peeling her eyes open, Ella is met with the face of Dick Grayson, the older male trying to speak to her through the energy barrier.

Relief flooding through her, Ella drops the shield in time to catch the end of the leader's sentence, "-la are you okay?"

Forcing herself to sit up, the magician tries her best to ignore the fire that ignites in her stomach every time she moves, "Fine. Don't worry about me."

Because really, she was one of the last people the senior Titan should be looking out for. It's not like any of her teammates are incapable of taking care of themselves, it's just that Ella trumps quite a few of her friends in the manpower aspect of their skills. 

She may not be one of the best fighters on the team, but she can pack quite the devastating punch. 

So, without even waiting for the hero's response, Ella is back up, shooting off right at the first paradoom to enter her line of vision. 

Shooting her energy at it, Ella follows through with a punch, sending her first opponent spiralling down. But, before she can even attempt to take another down, the brunette feels a hand grip onto her long hair. 

Pulling down, the paradoom screeches as it tares Ella out of the sky, flipping the girl back and forth on the ground with unimaginable strength. 

Blinded by the searing pain for a moment, Ella doesn't even waste the time to find her footing before swiping her arm down, slicing the paradoom's hand off clean. 

Stomping her foot down she clasps her hands together in front of her, splitting herself into 10 copies. It wasn't a power she used often, but in this type of battle, it's certainly needed. 

The Gemini's clones aren't much help though, seeing as though they poof out of existence once hit. 

Taking advantage of the breather she gets, Ella hears a scarily familiar cry of pain; Donna. 

The young Titan hadn't even been able to see the other fights raging on since the battle started. She was the first one to have been attacked, and she's been surrounded ever since. 

Reaching her friend's side, Ella crumples to the ground at what she sees. Donna, her best friend in the entire world, one of the only people that believed her when she said a teenaged boy was a better Superman than that Cyborg, was staring lifelessly at the sky, leg torn clean off and a bloody hole right where her heart should have been. 

Standing up, her fury taking over, Ella lets out a battle cry as she bulldozes right into a paradoom, surprising herself when her body went straight through it, slicing the creature in half. 

Keeping a hold on the upper half of the monster, Ella uses her momentum to send the half right into another oncoming paradoom, sending it flying back before she was kicked down. 

Rolling to the side to evade the horn coming down at her, Ella kicks up, flipping away from the relentless onslaught of attacks. 

Spotting a familiar red ray, Ella sends one last blast of energy at the monster in front of her before fleeing to where her boyfriend was fighting. 

Punching the creature he was fighting with, Conner's panicked blue eyes desperately meet Ella's own, "There's too many of them we're not gonna-"

Commanding the energy inside the paradoom coming towards her, Ella forces it out of the monster, tearing it apart in the process, "I know."

It was a silent agreement between the two of them. They were heroes, like hell they weren't gonna go down fighting.

Letting out a shaky breath, Ella nods to her boyfriend before diving back into the fight, ready to defend her once cheery and lively home. 

The fight was coming to an end, thankfully. It seemed as though the killing machines were getting bored, some of them starting to fly off already at the sight of the mostly dead team. 

Slicing the head off a paradoom, Ella is equal parts relieved and surprised to not have another immediately pounce on her. 

Looking around at the battlefield, she watches as the last paradoom standing impales Nightwing before backhanding Robin into the ocean. 

As Raven and Conner go after the paradoom, Ella plunges herself right into the lake in front of her beloved home, following the trail of crimson coming from the boy wonder. 

Looping an arm around his waist, Ella spins around and shoots to the top as fast as she can, hoping the teen she was holding was not dead. 

Landing back onto the cracked and torn up cement, Ella crashes down to her knees as Conner and Raven come running up to the pair. 

Paying neither teen any mind, Ella presses two fingers to her friend's neck, deflating in relief to find a strong pulse under her fingertips. 

Dropping her head onto the boy's chest, she can feel him start to stir awake. But, she's pulled away from him before he's fully conscious again. 

Looking up, the french girl is met once again with Conner's embrace, the boy's face married with worry and grief, "Are you alright?"

She knew he meant not only physically, but mentally too. It was clear to see that the magician didn't have any major injuries, but tons of small cuts and bruises littered her petite frame. 

Gaze drifting back to Robin, who was now talking to Raven, Ella says, "No, but I don't think any of us are."

Rubbing his hand up and down his girlfriend's back, Conner's reply was a simple, "No, we're not." But it held so many unspoken words, so many emotions that it almost sent Ella to a breakdown. 

"But," Softly turning the shorter teen, forcing her to look at him and not her other teammates, the super cups her face in his palms, "We'll get there."

"How do you know that, though?" Teary-eyed and voice cracking in the middle, Ella shivers, goosebumps splaying across her arms.

Smiling down at her, Conner's eyes hold this certain sadness in them that Ella had never expected to see in those happy ice blue's, "Because we're the world's beckon of hope, we can't give up now."

"Gates, Kent, we need to leave."

Stepping out of her boyfriend's embrace, but making sure to interlock their hands together, Ella shoots Damian a questioning look, "What?"

"We...we can't stay here," gesturing to their now torn apart home, Damian shuffles around nervously, something that looked so wrong on the boy, "I'm going back to the League of Shadows. I want you two to come with me."

Sharing a look with Conner, Ella feels her face fall once more, "Damian...we can't."

Brows furrowing, Damian gives them an accusatory glare, "Why _not_? We'll be safe there."

Giving Ella's hand a light squeeze, Conner says, "It's not _our_ safety we're worried about. We can't go into hiding when there's so many people out here that need our help."

Stepping forward, placing her hands on Damian's shoulders, Ella peels the boy's mask off, "If we could go with you, we would, Dami. But we _can't._ So I'm sorry, but if you're going back to the League you'll have to do so without us."

Tears shining in his emerald eyes, Damian looks away from both teens before saying, "Very well. Ella," Unclipping his somehow completely intact cape from his shoulders, Damian drapes if over the girl, "Try to stay safe, if I find out you've died, I will personally come to the afterlife and drag your ass back out."

Letting a wet laugh escape her lips, Ella draws the boy wonder in for a hug, and surprisingly enough, the boy returns it, gripping onto her just as tightly as she was to him. 

Pulling back, Damian turns to the boy of steel, "Conner."

Looking a bit shocked at hearing the bat say his first name, and not his last, the boy in question says, "Yeah?"

"Don't die."

Clasping a hand onto Damain's shoulder, Conner doesn't seem affected by the noticeable shorter goodbye he got, "I'll try buddy."

With a curt nod, Damian turns around and walks away from the pair, past Raven whom he's already said his goodbye to, and off back to where he grew up, the one place Ella never expected him to want to return to. 

* * *

_"I can't let you go now that I got it"-Electric Love, Burns_

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey, hey, hey first part to Apokolips war is up! Now that it is on DC Universe, I am finally able to start working on it! So yeah, here is the opening part where Clark explains the plan, and the attack on titans tower. Get ready to cry, because this chapter was nothing compared to what I have planned ;w;**

**I was originally going to have Kon and El go with Damian, but then I thought well why not have them stay and try to help out the people left to fend for themselves? Because I honestly can't see them leaving innocent people behind, especially Superboy.**

**I do have a specific location with a specific couple in mind that El and Kon go visit first, tune in to next chapter to find out who they are!**

**-Kori**


	8. His Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “And that means that -right there- is Gemini,” he said
> 
> “Maybe we should get a telescope so we can see it better,” he suggested, briefly pausing, “But why would I need to if I have a Gemini right here who is just as beautiful,” he complimented, his voice soft and barely audible.
> 
> Ella was stunned, “Gar has really rubbed off on you huh,” she laughed, trying to direct attention off of her flushed cheeks. “But thank you,” Ella smiled softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

* * *

_"And all I need is to be struck by your electric love"-Electric Love, Burns_

* * *

Landing in the dead, hay-like grass, Ella sweeps her eyes over the landscape in front of her. It was clear that the paradooms have paid a visit to the farmland, if the torn up crops and house were any hint. 

"Do you think they're.." Not daring to finish his sentence, Conner wraps his arms around himself, as though he thought the action would protect him from the news he didn't want to hear. 

Finishing his thought, Ella grabs his hand, pulling him towards the porch now in shambles, "Only one way to find out."

Putting her free hand out in front of her, Ella creates a small shield to protect them from any paradooms that might be hiding out in the home. 

Taking her first wary steps inside, dragging her worry stricken boyfriend with her, Ella has to clear her throat before calling out, scared her voice will break in the middle, "Hello? Ma, Pa are you here?"

The Kent farm, that's where they had ended up. As much as Ella had wanted to check on her own family, she was ashamed to say that she doesn't know if she could. So, instead of facing _those_ issues, she's accompanied Conner on his trip to Kansas. 

The brunette could feel the slight tremor in Conner's hand as she grips it. There was no answer to her call, already painting things bad. 

"Please don't be dead," Whispering the phrase out, Conner brushes his free palm over his pants before calling out louder, "Ma, Pa? It's Conner and Ella!"

But when no response comes once again, the boy's knees buckle, dragging Ella down with him. He refuses to cry, but Ella can see the sheen of tears in his eyes, "Oh Kon..."

Wrapping her arms around the boy's shoulder, the magician isn't at all surprised when the embrace was not returned. She wasn't even sure if the raven was aware of what was happening. 

"Conner, dear, is that you?"

Head snapping up at the call, both teens look around wildly until they locate where the voice came from. 

Standing in the doorway directly behind them, were Ma and Pa Kent, both looking a little worse for wear but _alive_.

For a moment nobody moved, both parties frozen in their own shocked state. But then a tear makes its way down Conner's face and Ma is gathering him in her arms faster than even Superman could ever go. 

Trailing behind his wife, Pa Kent makes his way over to Ella, extending his hand out to help her stand up, "It's good to see you two kids made it out alright."

Smiling at the man's words, Ella looks around at the trashed house, "What happened here?"

Sighing tiredly, the man follows Ella's gaze to where she's looking, the giant gaping hole in the side of the house, "I don't even know where to start."

"How about with some dinner," Coming up to stand with the pair, Ma has both her hands on Conner's shoulders, guiding him to where she wants him to go, "You kids must be famished."

Gathering her hair out of her face, Ella ties it back in a loose ponytail, "Oh I don't know, we can't-"

"-nonsense. There's plenty to go around, you kids go enjoy yourselves. Dinner will be ready shortly."

Squeezing her grandson's shoulder a bit before letting go, the older woman motions for her husband to follow her into the kitchen. 

It's a little odd to be having dinner at this time. It's already pitch black out, but Ella supposes at a time like this it doesn't exactly matter _when_ you eat, simply that you _do_ eat. 

"She doesn't take no for an answer, does she?" Turning to look at Conner, Ella lets an amused smile dance over her lips. 

"Of course not," Wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders, Conner starts to walk towards the back door, leading her outside, "C'mon, there's this spot in the barn I wanna show you."

Letting herself be led out of the old house, Ella takes comfort in the cold air that hits her face. It's been unbearably hot recently, so it was a blessing to be able to sit outside comfortably. 

It turns out this 'spot' inside the barn was actually just the roof of the red shelter. Flying up after her boyfriend, Ella can't help but marvel at all the stars freckling the sky above her. It was rare to see so many stars in the city, the air too polluted and too much light coming off the lively streets. 

There was a brief moment of silence between them before “Hey look,” Conner said, gesturing up to the star-speckled sky, “Isn’t that the Big Dipper?” he asked, pausing to study the sky some more, “And isn’t that Ursa Major? So that means that star over there is Polaris, right? Which means that’s the Little Dipper and that’s Ursa Minor,”

Ella looked up, “Yeah, you’re right!” she beamed, “Good job Superboy, you’re learning,” she complimented, impressed that he _actually listened_ to her rambling about astrology.

“And look! There’s Orion and that star right there is Aldebaran, which means that one is Taurus,” Ella explained, pointing at the stars.

“And that means that -right there- is Gemini,” he said

“Maybe we should get a telescope so we can see it better,” he suggested, briefly pausing, “But why would I need to if I have a Gemini right here who is just as beautiful,” he complimented, his voice soft and barely audible.

Ella was stunned, “Gar has really rubbed off on you huh,” she laughed, trying to direct attention off of her flushed cheeks. “But thank you,” Ella smiled softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Marveling at how beautiful the girl before him looks, cheeks flushed and eyes alight, Conner tips his head to the side, one of the most gentle and sincere smiles Ella has ever seen coming over his face, "Just making sure you knew; I love you, Gems."

Eyebrows shooting up, the crimson tint on the girl's cheeks darkens even more, if that was possible, "I know."

Shuffling so she's tucked right into the super's side, Ella rests her head on his shoulder as they lapse into a comfortable silence, taking in the beauty of space above. 

* * *

**_2 Years Later_ **

" _Bollocks."_ Sifting through bottle after bottle, John suppresses an annoyed sigh, "And that's the last of the Glen Luffa."

Pulling two identical bottles from the shelf the man continues on, more so talking to himself than his companion, "The Glens are full of whiskey, I mean, lots of whiskey."

Humming in content when he hears the contents in the bottle sloshing around, the Britt easily pops the corkscrew off, long since becoming an expert at it, before downing the liquid in one go.

So what, this wasn't the best way for him to be coping with his Girlfriend's death, the loss of the Justice League? It's not like anyone was around to stop him, no, the Earth has become a ghost town. Both a blessing and a curse all the same. 

"The "H"s are gonna be a breeze after the "G"s. Too many bloody " _Glens."_ Slumping forward, too intoxicated to be able to hold himself upright anymore, the blonde hollers to his friend that he all but dragged along here, "You hear that? Still cryin' in your beer, eh?"

Jabbing a finger at the demon, Constantine shouts to the being, "Eat yer heart out!" before swiping yet another bottle from the shelf behind him, "Hello, my old friend, Glen Magoogan."

Pushing the wooden doors of the pub open, Clark can't say he's surprised to see John drinking his way to death. The magic-user had never been good at processing emotions, something painfully familiar to Bruce's own personality. 

Raven, on the other hand, has never met John, and to say she's not impressed with what she sees would be an understatement.

Feeling the violet eyes on him, Clark turns to the young teen, "We need him." Because they do; there was one certain person that Clark needed to see _now_. One person that he needed to know was okay, one person he needed to know didn't hate him.

"We're doomed."

Ignoring the remark from the Titan, Clark starts to walk towards the magician, "John Constantine. I'm glad we found you."

How these people knew his name, John didn't care. He's met many people in his life, made many enemies, and few allies. So, he waves off the pair with a hiss, "Find yer own pub. We're drinking our way through this one. In fact, the whole street's ours, pub-wise, so sod off." 

"John, it's me." Pulling off his hood to reveal his now black and green eyes, Clark says, "Clark Kent. You knew me as Superman."

Eyes widening in momentary surprise, John stumbles towards the de-powered super, face contorted into a fake smile, "Oh, it is you. I thought you'd snuffed it." Pulling back just enough to build up momentum, John swings his fist right at the man's nose, sending him flying down. 

Groaning in pain, John can't say the searing pain in his hand wasn't worth the satisfaction of decking the man of steel, "Oh, bloody hell! Now you've done it."

Setting up to attack again, John is quickly taken down by a kick to the head. Stepping back in satisfaction as the drunk flies back into the bar, Raven makes no move to come at the man again. 

"John, wait." Putting his arms out in front of the raven-haired girl, Clark meets John's gaze, "We're not here to fight."

Savage screeches suddenly filling the room as four parademons break into the building, and John can't help the snappy reply that leaves his mouth, "You've come to the wrong place, then."

Using her magic to change into her costume, Raven lets her hands glow purple chanting, " _Azarath, Metrion--_ Stop!" Hands burying themselves in her hair as she doubles over in agony, the girl is easily swatted away. 

Grabbing a toppled over chair next to him, Clark swings it at the same monster that hit Raven, really wishing he had his powers as the chair does nothing but break under the force of the hit. 

Before John can even attempt to get a hit in, he too is thrown across the room, landing just behind Raven as an object flies from his pocket, "Quit playin' around, boy scout! Smash 'em!"

"I _can't!_ "

Claws slashing the front of his shirt, Clark desperately tries to push the parademon off of him but to avail. 

"Bloody useless, both of you." Standing up, John grabs a card from his coat before chanting a spell. 

Throwing the card at the creature behind Clark, the object beheads the monster, killing it. Grabbing a bottle as another comes running at him, John tries to fight the parademon off, only to be thrown back over the bar. 

Landing in front of Etrigan, Constantine growls at the demon, "A little help would be nice." Getting no response from the man, John looks up to see the parademon looming over him, hands up ready to smash him. 

Rolling off the bar just in time, John finds the amulet that flew from his pocket the first time he was hit. Grabbing it with a smile, the man points it towards the parademon standing over the bar, "Last call, asshole."

A bright light emits from the object before a green smoke follows, turning the parademon to stone. 

"And I'm sober again. Magic can be such a bitch."

Coming to stand where Clark and Raven are on the ground, Constantine catches sight of the green "S" on Clark's chest, "Gift from Darkseid?"

Covering the symbol with his jacket, the Kryptonian glares up at him, "Liquid Kryptonite...to keep me from ever being a threat."

"So he let you live to wander about demoralizing everyone. Impressive."

"Stop it, please." Curling in on herself, even more, Raven whispers to herself, begging her father to stop tormenting her. 

"She gets like this, sometimes."

Kneeling in front of the girl, John swipes a hand over the Gem on the girl's forehead, allowing himself and Clark to hear the words Raven hears every second, of every day.

_"I will exact vengeance on you, daughter! Release me, ungrateful spawn of mine!"_

Stomach falling, Clark says, "That's what she hears all the time. No wonder she's always in pain, and her healing powers don't work.

"John," Standing up at the same time the man in question does, Clark watches the Britt start to walk away, "Where are you going? We have-"

"-A plan to save the world, right? And this time it will definitely work." Fixing the collar of his coat, John glares at Clark from the corner of his eyes, "Bugger off, Clarkie."

Standing up, finally able to reign in her father's constant insults, Raven says, "I told you he was a waste of time. All cowards are."

Stopping at the teen's words, John feels a familiar rage overcome him as he whips around, "I didn't lead us all into a massacre!" Walking up to Clark, the blonde points an accusing finger at him, "You did!"

"Zatanna was a hero who fought bravely. But where were you when she needed you most?"

Turning away from the pair, anger replaced by shame, John weakly grits out, "Ah, piss off, both of you."

Grabbing the magic-user's hand, Clark forces the man to look at him, "Zatanna would want you to hear us out."

Wrenching his hand back, John spits, "Below the belt, boy scout. More parademons will be by. Come with if you want. Or _not_."

Looking at the sulking demon still at the bar, John asks, "What about you, Etrigan?"

Finishing off his beer, the being slams the glass back down, "Ugh, whatever."

* * *

Walking through the torn-up build into the makeshift 'living room' Raven sarcastically says, "Love what you've done with the place."

There were boards everywhere, wallpaper torn apart and a thick layer of dust covers everything in the room, indicating that John hasn't been 'home' in quite a while--drinking is way through every pub, the group guesses. 

Chuckling a little, John spreads his arms out, mockingly showing off his home, "What better metaphor for a merry old England today?"

Plopping down onto the large comfortable looking chair behind him, John gestures to the glasses beside him, "Drink? You can use the good glasses."

Mumbling incoherently, Etrigan swipes one of the bottles of strong alcohol for himself, before walking away to continue in his self-pity. 

"Been all mopey ever since a friend of his died. Doesn't even rhyme anymore."

"What's the _point_?"

Stepping forward, having been done with the duo's antics since she first stepped int that pub, Raven levels John with a stern glare, "Look, are you going to help us or not?"

"Saving your asses in the bar didn't count, eh?" John snaps back defensively, "Offering whiskey in an unbroken glass? Bloody ingrates, you are."

Grabbing a glass of alcohol for himself, not even caring about the fact that he _just_ got sober again, John continues on, "So, it was crap from the start, but what went wrong, eh? Tell me what happened."

Knowing full well what event the man was talking about, Clark steadies himself with a breath. He didn't _want_ to have to retell his greatest failure, didn't want to even think about how he'd let everyone down, let every _die_.

But, if it got him to where he so desperately needed to go, got him to the person he wanted to see, then Clark supposes it's worth the trauma.

Looking down at the floor, refusing to meet anyone's gaze in the room, the Kryptonian starts, "Darkseid knew every part of our plan. Those things that attacked us were half Parademon, half Doomsday. Barry and Hal fought hard, but were taken down." Images of his friends, his family getting slain right before his eyes played back in the man of steel's head as he talked, "The rest of us didn't last much longer. Shazam was wounded but Cyborg helped him escape. Darkseid didn't kill everyone. Some, he had plans for." 

Grabbing at his chest, unable to finish the story, Raven carried on, "A few days later, Darkseid sent those..."Paradooms" to Earth. We didn't have a chance."

Staring intensely at his glass, John speaks up, "Does it hurt?" referring to the kryptonite inside of Clark. At the man's silence, John gets the answer he wanted, "Good."

Slamming her hands on the table in front of John, the frustration is clear in Raven's voice, "Even without powers, Clark is still fighting. You couldn't be bothered to do it once."

The memory of leaving Zatanna behind flashed before John's eyes. In all of his life, all of the horrific things he has done, this is the one thing that John will never be able to come to terms with, "Don't know why I ran. Been up against all sorts of bastards and I always stood tall. But this time I just ran. Why did I do that? _Why?_ "

Walking away from the ebony pair, John runs a hand through his hair, trying to keep his emotions in check, "What do you need me for anyway? The magic you have left works just as good as mine."

"We just need a locator spell." Clark says, heart hammering in his chest, the mantra of ' _please don't say no'_ playing over and over again in his head. Because honestly, Clark doesn't know what he'll do if he can't find this person, dead or alive. 

Chuckling dryly, not even caring that nothing that's been said was funny, John gives Clark a confused look, "A locator spell? And then you'll toddle off, will ya? Fine. " Reaching past Clark, John grabs a package of cigarettes to help him comes to terms with this ridiculous situation, "I need some gear, so sit tight. Etrigan, continue loafing."

_"Done."_

Hearing his watch deep, the signal of a call from Lois, Clark hastily pulls his sleeve up at answer, "Lois?"

_"We need to reassess the situation. Gather out forces to a new location. Another one just landed in China."_

"Any idea what they're for?"

_"No. But whatever it is can't be good. We need to come up with a new strat-"_ and just before his wife can finish, the call disconnects without warning. 

Tapping the screen in a futile attempt to get the watch working again, Clark mutters under his breath in agitation, "Oh, no, come on."

"Let's get you on your way, then." Throwing up a blow-up globe in the air, John has finally returned to the small group, "Who am I finding?"

Preparing himself for what comes next, Clark takes in a deep breath, butterflies filling up is stomach in nerves and anticipation, "Conner Kent."

* * *

_"Baby your electric love"-Electric Love, Burns_

* * *

**A/N**

**I'm sorry--I couldn't wait to start on the next chapter xD I'm sad though like all I want to do is work on this book, but then that means I'll be done with it sooner and I just love writing these two together, I'm not ready to be done ;w;**

**But ye! Kon and El are revealed to be staying with Ma and Pa Kent for the two years after the attack on titans tower. And instead of going to look for Damian straight away, Clark looks for his son (don't worry, they do go to fetch Damian lol) also-the part of the story where Kon and El talk about the stars was not written by me! It was by a friend of mine** [CarmineRoses](https://www.deviantart.com/carmineroses) **on dA as a comm I ordered from her a while ago** ~

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and get ready for an angsty reunite of Clark, el, and kon!**

**-Kori**


	9. Infinity Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My father," Taking a deep breath in, Conner's hands start to shake the slightest bit, "I mean, we should hate him, right?"
> 
> Humming softly in thought, Ella pulls away from him, this time catching his gaze. She doesn't know where this thought came from, or how long he's been pondering over it, but Ella decides that's not an important detail. "That would be the logical thing to do, I suppose."

* * *

_"Rushing through me, feel your energy rushing through me"_

* * *

Strumming her fingers over her thighs, a continuous thump resonating throughout the room, Ella waits patiently at the old rickety table for Ma Kent to serve dinner. 

It's a rare occurrence--for them to all be able to eat together. Most of the time, Ella and Conner are out and about, running their usual supply delivery rout to locals in need. It's a long, tiring, job but worth it in the eyes of both teens. 

Despite not seeing the old couple as much as she wishes she could, Ella has come to adore the Kent's. It's clear where Clark got his kind country boy attitude from, and that brings a semblance of comfort to the brunette. 

Setting the plate down in front of the young magician, Ma Kent's face has a kind, gentle, smile adorning it. She always seems to make sure she's in the best of spirits when either teen is around her. "Eat up now, I'm sure all that running around the city has left you two famished."

Smiling gratefully up at the older woman, Ella picks at her food a bit, not exactly hungry but knowing better than to leave Ma's food untouched, "You don't even know the half of it. Thank you--this looks delicious."

Chuckling slightly at the girl's response, Ma gives her shoulder a comforting squeeze before turning to her grandson, setting his plate down as well. "Now I know how much you can eat, if I don't see that plate wiped clean of food I'm going to have to start questioning if you're really my grandson."

Giving an indignant squawk at the elder's words, Conner picks up his fork and shoves a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth, "I'm wounded, Grandma, really truly hurt."

Leveling the boy with a playful glare, Ma Kent points her wooden spoon at his face, "You are just like your father--what did I say about chewing with your mouth open?"

Laughing at the embarrassed blush spreading across her boyfriend's cheeks, Ella finally forces herself to start eating her dinner. Ever since she's arrived at the farm her appetite has been _lacking,_ to say the least. It had taken the girl around a week to even start eating more than a quarter of the dinners put down in front of her, not for Ma's lack of trying. 

Though her sudden loss of appetite was never really spoken about--it wasn't a mystery as to why the girl lost interest in her food, they all understood to some degree. 

Downing the last of her water, slamming the cup back onto the table like a shot, Ella excused herself from the kitchen. It was a stupid little quirk she had picked up on when she first moved to America, something that always made the Titans chuckle when they ate together. 

As the teen walked to the back door, swinging Robin's cape over her shoulders, Ella could hear the rustling of someone scurry to catch up to her; Conner, she concludes. 

Pausing just before turning the handle of the door, Ella looks back and waits for her boyfriend to catch up to her. She felt slightly guilty that he felt the need to go out with her when he should be sleeping, but knew better than to try and argue with him on it. 

"Regular spot?"

"Wherever you want to go."

Wrapping an arm around the petit girl's shoulder's, Conner leads Ella outside and to the barn, taking them both back to the first night they arrived. 

Plopping down on the roof of the building, the young couple sits in comfortable silence for a bit, Ella's head tucked securely under Conner's chin while his hand stroked her hair. 

"Do you hate him?" The timid voice of her boyfriend broke Ella out of her daze. 

Looking up at the raven, Ella notices that he refuses to look at her, instead, locking his gaze onto the abyss above them. 

Opting to let the boy keep his gaze off her instead of forcing him to look at her, Ella shifts her head back onto his chest, muddling over the question for a bit before answering. "Hate who?"

"My father," Taking a deep breath in, Conner's hands start to shake the slightest bit, "I mean, we should hate him, right?"

Humming softly in thought, Ella pulls away from him, this time catching his gaze. She doesn't know where this thought came from, or how long he's been pondering over it, but Ella decides that's not an important detail. "That would be the logical thing to do, I suppose."

"Right--right, you're right, sorry, I don't know what I was thinking."

Sighing softly to herself, Ella takes a moment to decide how to continue. This was a touchy subject, and Ella was by no means a good therapist. "I never said we _have_ to hate him, that's just what any average joe would do."

Laughing briefly, though it sounds more pained than actually joyful, Conner reaches for one of Ella's hands, absentmindedly fiddling with her fingers, "Well we're definitely not your average joe."

"No." Shifting her gaze to the sky, Ella takes in the breathtaking sight above her. She grew up with the stars being a part of her life yet they still manage to amaze her, as if she was looking at them for the first time. "I guess we're not."

It was Conner's turn to hum in thought, looking like he was about to say something else. But, he was interrupted before he could do so by a sickenly familiar-looking purple bubble appearing by the house's porch. 

Sharing a quick glance, the two heroes slipped from the roof and ducked around the corner of the house. While the raven-colored magic looked familiar, the teens have learned to be more cautious of people in the last two years. 

Green eyes scanning the small group of people, Ella's eyes landed on a familiar head of black hair. Gasping in surprise, Ella springs from her hiding place just as the unsuspecting person was about to knock on the front door.

"Raven?"

Turning around in surprise, the Titan drops her hand into her cape, face snapping back to a neutral expression scarily fast, "Hi."

Letting out a breathless, "hi," back to her friend, Ella is just about to launch herself at the teen before she realizes the three other sets of eyes watching her. 

Taking a subconscious half-step back, Ella shoots Raven an expectant look, hand gesturing to the three unfamiliar men that arrived with her. "I see you brought some....friends."

Lifting her brow a fraction, Raven scoffs lightly to herself, "If you wanna call them that." Nodding her head towards the blonde man behind her dressed in a long coat and tie, the girl says, "John Constantine, magic expert, _somehow_ ," Turning her head to the demon next to John, Raven continues, "Etrigan, master in the art of self-pity," hesitating for a second, Raven gets a hold of herself before gesturing to the last man in the group, face obscured by his hood, "And...."

"My Dad."

Shock overtaking her body, Ella spins to look at the boy next to her. His face was a bit paler than it was before, eyes wide and locked onto the man in front of him, gaze unwavering. 

Narrowing her eyes into a glare, Ella says, "How do you-"

"His heartbeat," Conner answers, cutting off the end of her question. Taking that as his cue, Clark sighs slightly defeated and slips the hood off his head. 

True to Conner's word, the man is revealed to be Clark himself, though his hair is overgrown and eyes green, even more vibrant than her own. 

"But-" Shaking his head a bit, as if hoping it would clear the shock from his mind, Conner huffs out a breath, "How are you _alive_."

Clark flinches violently at the question, but he is saved from having to answer as Constantine steps to the front of the group, face contorted into an annoyed glare. 

"We don't have time for all this bloody tosh, we're just here to pick you two up."

Confused by the statement, Ella looks to Raven in question. The girl seems to get the message, retaking her position at the front of the group to address Ella and Kon. "We're going to stop Darkseid, we're putting together a team, Damian is our next stop."

A sudden feeling of anger takes over Ella. Who were they to storm in here acting all high and mighty like this? Demanding they come and join their suicide mission after years of radio silence. Her gaze harshly snaps onto Clark, "A team of kids you orphaned?"

Shoulders sagging just a bit lower, Clark meets her eyes, though he flinches once more at the intensity of the teen's look, "Ella-"

"We're in." Placing a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder before she could get in a word of protest, Conner speaks up. Ella fights back the urge to fight that statement, taking in how defeated and tired the super looks. "Always wanted to go down famous, might as well do it on the right side of history."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Ella stays quiet at the boy's words. She doesn't need to voice her stance, it's clear to everyone there that if Conner's going, so is she. 

Instead, Ella looks back to Raven, "I'm assuming you came because you needed Damain's location?"

Giving the brunette a curt nod, Raven steps back slightly, giving her teammate the space she needs to use her powers. 

Crouching down, Ella placed her fingertips to the dead grass below her. Closing her eyes, Ella tracks Damian's energy source to where the Leauge is located. She could have done this ages ago, made sure he got to his destination safely, but she couldn't bring herself to. 

She didn't know what she would do if his energy signature wasn't there anymore. 

Standing up, Ella dusts her hands off. She doesn't track people often, wanting to avoid violating their privacy, but sometimes even she has to admit that it's a handy power to have.

"I've always wanted to go somewhere tropical, anyone up for a trip to the Caribean Sea?"

* * *

Teleporting to the league was a bit...rockier than Ella had wanted. Because of Raven's weakened state, Ella was forced to transfer some of her energy to the girl, allowing her to have the strength to transport the large group. 

When the girl collapsed right at her feet, Ella went down with her, Clark flanking to their side. Though, Ella pushed herself to her feet when they were surrounded by various assassins. 

Striding forward, unsheathing her sword, Lady Shiva points it threateningly at the dysfunctional group. "The infidels have breached our sanctuary! Slay them!"

Flying back just as an assassin threw themselves at her, Ella is quick to bring up her hands and blast them away. 

Without missing a beat, Ella kicks out, striking another male right across the cheek, sending him back into two other approaching assassins. 

Clenching her hand into a fist, Ella thrusts it up, commanding the energy around her to follow suit. Tearing out of the ground, a yellow box springs up, sending the unsuspecting opponent harshly back to the ground. 

Slashing her hand out once more, Ella pounces on the next assassin to enter her line of sight. Tumbling to the ground, Ella presses her knee into the man's throat as she looks down at him, a cocky smirk playing on her lips, "I expected more of a challenge."

And just out of sheer luck, the second that statement leaves her lips, Ella is tackled to the ground. Throwing her hands over her chest, Ella wills a shield to form just as she sees the glint of a sword swing down at her. 

It collides with her shield, sending a panicked feeling to Ella's stomach when the yellow bubble cracks.

Swinging his arms up over his head once more, the man slams the sword down, sealing Ella's fate as the girl knows this blow will shatter her shield-

" _Enough!_ "

Peeling an eye open, Ella breathes out in relief as the assassin hauls himself off her, straightening up at the command. The second he is out of her sight Conner enters it, slightly panting from the fight, hand extending down to help her up. 

Accepting the help, Ella opts to keep their hands intertwined, still wary of how safe she was. 

Finally looking up at whoever shouted, Ella can't help the way her jaw drops at the sight in front of her. It's clear to see how much her best friend has changed over the past two years. He looks taller, more muscular, and maybe just a tad bit handsome.

Recovering from her shock first, Raven straightens up, voice lacking any sort of emotion, "Hi."

Ella watches as the boy's eyes trail over the mess of people in front of him. When his eyes landed on Clark, the girl saw a fire light in his emerald irises, "You."

Taking out his sword with the intent to attack the man, he is interrupted by Raven, "Damian, please listen to him." But before she could get out her whole statement, she collapsed once again. 

Momentarily forgetting about his anger, Damian crouches down to catch her gently in his arms. Looking up, his green eyes catch Ella's own, concern swimming in them, "What's wrong with her?"

But before she can answer Constantine, steps forward, "How long have you got, mate?"

"I know you hate me, but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't necessary."

Standing up with the magician still his arms, Damian relents, "I'll let you live. For now." Before turning away, silently beckoning for the group to follow him. 

Still, slightly in a daze, Ella lets Conner drag her along with a quiet, "C'mon." She didn't even process the comment Etrigan made, not fully. 

All but collapsing on the bed Damian leads her to Ella huffs down with a content sigh, Conner joins her with a soft chuckle. They don't even bother with the covers, immediately curling around each other with Ella's cape lazily draped around them. 

Ella's fingers lazy trace over Conner's sides and his massage her scalp. Ella can see his eyes constantly trailing over to Clark, looking conflicted between going over and talking to him, and staying with her. 

But, before she can say anything Damian's soft voice reaches her ears, "Is there a way to cure her?"

Pushing off the bed, Ella makes her way to Damian's side, not touching him but close enough to show her support. 

Lighting a cigarette, Constantine puffs out a mouthful of smoke, the putrid smell making its way into Ella's nose. "You get Trigon out, and yeah, she'd recover-but-"

"-But he destroys the world."

Face softening, Ella hesitantly places her hand on the ebony's shoulder. Relieved when he didn't shrug it off, Ella says, "I can help strengthen her hold on him, but I don't know how long it'll last."

Finally making his way over to the group, Conner shoots her a concerned look, "But El, you've already-"

"-I'll be fine." Crouching down next to her whimpering friend, Ella places her hand on either side of the girl's head, her eyes beginning to glow their trademark yellow. Closing them in concentration, Ella begins to transfer more energy to Raven, watching as her body hungrily absorbs the boost in strength. 

Stumbling back as the process finishes, Ella's knees buckle as Conner's arms slither around her. That's the annoying thing about her powers--transferring energy from herself to another being always leaves her drained and weak. 

Unknown to the girl, both raven-haired teens next to her share a concerned look, Damian silently asking if she was alright. 

At the nod of Conner's head, the boy turns to Raven, lightly shaking the girl awake. Sitting up with a gasp, Raven's violet eyes first land on Damian, then Conner, and lastly Ella. A flash of guilt makes it's way into her eyes before it washes away quickly. 

"Did you get any rest?"

"Enough." Though the girl's claim is obviously a lie, she's thankful no one calls her out on it. 

Standing up slowly, Damian extends his arm to the frail girl, voice never slipping from it's calm and soothing tone. "Then come with me." Eyes flickering around the room, Ella watches as they land on herself, Conner, and lastly Clark, "You too Kent, Gates. I want you all to see what this war has cost my family."

Taking that as her cue to stand, Ella pushes off from Conner, but not before the boy could slip an arm around her shoulder, ensuring she wouldn't collapse again. 

Ella can't help but wince at the tone of Damian's voice. She knows his anger isn't directed at her, but it stills fills her entire being with guilt. 

Following the assassin out, Ella can't help the small smirk that makes its way on her face when he addresses Constantine, "Steal anything and I'll cut your hands off."

Walking through the halls, Ella silently marvels at how beautiful the building truly is. Every so often pointing out an exceptionally detailed carving on the walls, or some of the architecture that stands out to her. 

"I feared your plan would fail from the beginning. An army without killers is no army at all. But Batman believed in you. You cost me my father. And my teammates, I won't forgive that."

Tears spring to her emerald eyes at Damain's words. She can understand where he's coming from. Even though Clark hadn't confirmed her own father's death, she knew. Clark had cost her family as well. 

The grief was not something she expected though. Her father never cared for her, always pushed her aside in favor of her sister. He didn't love her, he only put up with her. 

"Nightwing convinced me not to voice my many objections. 'There are always risks in war,' he said." Stopping in front of a gold door, Damian slides open the small panel on it, "He's not saying that anymore."

As Raven looked through the small opening, Ella heard Conner gasp beside her as he stalked towards Damian. His face was contorted in horror and confusion, "You used the Lazarus pit."

Jumping on the boy's train of thought, Raven steps into Damian's personal space, snarling with anger, "You said you wouldn't. You _promised_."

Eyes downcast, not stepping up to Raven's challenge like Ella thought he would have, Damian simply says, "He was my brother. I had to take the chance. It just didn't work."

"We can't let what happened to Dick and everyone else be in vain." Stepping forward, Clark speaks up for the first time. Ella's not sure if that was the right move though, thinking back to when the boy wonder threatened to kill him not minutes before. 

Cape swishing around her as she stepped closer to her friend, Ella intervenes before Clark gets the boy riled up again, "We need your help. You can fix this."

"How? Your hardly the dream team to fight against Darkseid with."

"We need you to get through to Batman. You can break Darseid's programming." Seemingly not getting the message, Clark speaks up again, voice soft and careful as though he's deciding just how to word everything he's saying. 

Head bowing slightly, Damian crosses his hands behind his back, a false facade of toughness overcoming him. "You grossly overestimate the influence I have on my father."

Turning on his heels, Damian begins to slowly walk away from them, attempting to end the conversation and get them all to leave the island. 

But, before he can get too far, Raven calls after him, "Batman cares about you. Even awful parents care about their kids." Hand slipping out of her cape, Raven gestures between herself and Ella, "We should know."

Electing to ignore the girl's statement, Damian kept his back turned towards the group, still walking away. 

Unwilling to let their journey here go useless, Clark puts his arm on Conner's shoulder, reminding himself that he's there and not alone in the world like Damian. "I was there when Bruce learned about Dick's death. It affected him. It almost got through." 

Finally stopping, Damian stares at the floor, almost glaring a hole into the stone. Still reluctant to turn around, the boy says, "He overcame my mother's brainwashing once. If anyone could survive Darkseid's programming, it'd be father."

"So you'll help?" Eyebrows raised a bit and eyes wide, Conner stares at Damian, hope flickering in his ice-blue irises.

Turning around to face the group, Damian locks his gaze onto Conner. They were the unexpected duo. Always at each other's throats yet somehow still remaining close friends. Ella thinks she remembers hearing them both occasionally refer to each other as the Super Sons once or twice. 

"It's my responsibility to save him, or barring that, kill him if he can't be saved." Dropping his gaze, no longer able to maintain it with the super, Damian finishes, "He'd want that."

As much as she's against killing, Ella can't bring herself to disagree with the boy's statement. Bruce would want that, he wouldn't want Batman to become the only thing he never wanted to be; a killer. 

Gaining a bit of confidence once more, Damiann looks to Clark this time, "But the only way to Apokolips is to use the boom tube in LexCorp Tower. How do you expect to do that?"

Clark's hand tightened a bit on Conner's shoulder as the boy flinched slightly and looked down at the floor at the mention of Lex Luthor. No matter how much time has passed he still felt like a monster for sharing his DNA with the man. 

A lapse of silence falls over the group as they take in Damian's question. The atmosphere in the room is tense, everyone still on edge around each other. 

Looking up, Clark's eyes scan over everyone, lingering on Conner and Damian before saying, "I think I know a place."

* * *

_"Feel your energy rushing through me"_

* * *

**A/N**

**Omg three weeks! Yes, yes im sorry I know! I've been very busy lately and I just haven't had the inspiration to write in general ^^; Though I hope this was worth the wait? I know Kon doesn't talk too much in this chapter and for that I am sorry lol**

**The drawing above was drawn by** [Nascha-DC](https://www.deviantart.com/nascha-dc)

**I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter**

**-Kori**

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys like this chapter! Feel free to comment and shtuff!~


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